


Mine

by dont_hate_me01



Category: NCIS, NCIS (AU)
Genre: A/B/O, BDSM, Language, M/M, Torture, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-03-17 06:32:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3518984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dont_hate_me01/pseuds/dont_hate_me01
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being twenty-eight and being one of the youngest detectives with a gold shield means everything to Tony, but to the rest of the force, it means nothing.  Because he is still un-bonded.  And that means he is seen as a liability, as a danger.  It also means that he works without backup, closes all of his cases on his own, while at the same time keeping all of the so called Alphas of his back.</p>
<p>There are two ways to be bonded in society.  One, the natural way - finding your soul mate and being together forever and a day, or two, being forcefully bonded and that's the way Tony is headed for if the rest of the ass-hats in his precinct could get their way.  That is until the Navy Cop shows up - Leroy Jethro Gibbs.</p>
<p>Soon Tony finds himself working with NCIS and for the first time he feels like belonging somewhere.  That is until a case Tony worked on, and a case NCIS works on turns out to be connected and it brings demons out of every dark corner and the only way for Tony being safe is to be bonded.  Will Gibbs be his soul mate, or will Tony end up being taken forcefully by someone from his past?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> **AN 1:** Written for NaNoWriMo 2014 over on Rough Trade.
> 
> **AN 2:** Beta work done by the amazing AmyH0127
> 
> **AN 3:** Society is made up of werewolfs. Categorized in Alphas, betas and omegas. Alphas can only be male. Betas can be male or female. omegas can only be male. (the term omega, in this fic, will ALWAYS be in lowercase.)
> 
> **AN 4:** The new art was created by **Seleya889 (Hinky_Hippo)**!

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/152758583@N07/albums/72157686340604295)

**Prologue**

**Regulation: #1A - omega care (Undated)**

All omegas will be bonded to their soul mates within one moon cycle when the soul mate is revealed. The soul mate will take custody of the omega and will become the First Alpha. Un-bonded omegas will be forced to mate before they turn a cycle of twelve.

**Regulation: #1B - omega care (Undated)**

All omegas will serve at the pleasure of their First Alphas, their soul mates or their forced mates.

**\-- MINE --**

**Regulation: #11A - omega care (Dated 1789)**

omegas will always submit to the rules of an Alpha. No omega will be allowed to run free as they are unable to provide for themselves and are weak. If in an event of the Alpha passing, the omega will be placed under protection of the governing body until a new Alpha can be appointed.

As Alphas have the ultimate control over omegas, no omega may go against the will of his Alpha. Any omega will be punished severely in any fitting way as decided by his Alpha.

**\-- MINE --**

**Regulation: #89C - omega care (Dated 1899)**

omegas may be employed, but must be under constant supervision of his Alpha or a secondary Alpha appointed by the First Alpha. Disciplinary actions will be transferred from the First Alpha to the secondary Alpha for the duration of the omega's working hours.

**\-- MINE --**

**Regulation: #153X - omega care (Dated 1951)**

omegas may be employed as law enforcement officers.

**\-- MINE --**

**Regulation: #180F - omega care (Dated 1981)**

No omega under the age of eighteen may be mated. No omega over the age of eighteen may be forced to mate, unless it's proven that the omega is a danger to himself, or to those around him.

**\-- MINE --**

**July 8, 1973: St. Angel's Hospital**

The nurse at reception looked up and frowned. The man who came in could only be an Alpha; his body language screamed power, but not in a good way. As a beta she had seen her fair share of Alphas and she had no respect for Alphas like him. She looked down and busied herself with work as he approached. She could hear the conversation he had over the phone and it made her blood boil.

"Yes, the cunt finally went into labor. I'll be no longer than half an hour at the most." He laughed and nodded his head as stopped in front of the desk. "Maternity ward." He barked out.

Nurse Wilson looked up and cocked an eyebrow. "Only fathers are allowed." She refrained from admonishing him for his language.

The man sneered before pulling out his ID and shoved it in her hand. "Make it quick." He placed the phone back against his ear. "Fucking beta giving me lip." He snarled again in the nurse's direction before he continued with his conversation.

Nurse Wilson checked the Alpha's ID and sighed as she realized that a beta was booked in under the same last name - DiNozzo. She couldn't help but to pity both mother and pup.

**\-- MINE --**

"Alpha DiNozzo?" The young obstetrician inquired as he looked into the waiting room and found only one man inside.

"Do you see anyone else around, of course I'm DiNozzo." The man barked as he stepped into the doctor's personal space. "And, what is it?"

"Sir?" The doctor asked confused.

"THE PUP, what is it?"

"It's a boy."

"Well, at least she got that right. Now I can leave." Antonio DiNozzo Senior turned on his heels to walk out.

Doctor Snyders looked shocked at the Alpha before he managed to find his voice. "You can't just leave, Alpha DiNozzo. There are some papers you need to sign. You have to take responsibility for this pup. You need to make sure that he's taken care of. You know it's the law."

Anthony DiNozzo Senior stopped dead in his tracks at the doctor's words. He turned around slowly and growled hard. "There's no paperwork, you said it was a boy. It's an Alpha like me."

Snyders shook his head. "I never said it was an Alpha, only that it's a boy, and it is an omega. The half-moon shaped birthmark on the inside of his left thigh confirms his status." He pushed the papers he had in his hand to the shocked man. "You need to sign this."

DiNozzo shook his head. "It's not my pup. If the cunt delivered a bitch then it's not mine." He turned on his heels and walked away, the papers gliding to the floor as he let them slip from his fingers. Not once did he look back.

**\-- MINE --**

**DiNozzo Residence: 1981**

"It's your fucking fault. You've killed her!" DiNozzo Senior backhanded the young boy in front of him, looking on with glee as the small boned youth fell to the floor, hitting his head hard on the side of the dining room table. He took the two steps across and dragged the pup to his feet. "For eight years I had to play nice because the cunt held on to the purse strings and I had to have you under my feet, but no longer. Your new Alpha will collect you tomorrow morning and I'll be rid of you, finally." He shook the small boy hard and then let him drop from his grip. "Leave. I don't want to see you again." DiNozzo turned and stepped out of the room. He did not see the tears running down the small boy's cheeks or the way he shivered, trying to curl up in the smallest ball possible.

"Sorry to bother you, Alpha DiNozzo," a voice spoke up as DiNozzo stepped into his study to pour himself a stiff drink.

"What do you want, Fredericks?" DiNozzo snarled in his usual style. He just wanted to get drunk in celebration. The cunt, also known as his wife was dead and he could now finally get rid of the omega that soiled his image.

"Your wife's attorney dropped something off a few minutes ago. You need to look at it." Fredericks held out the envelope to his boss.

"I pay you to look at stuff like this, so what does it say?" DiNozzo poured the drink and took the seat behind his desk.

The lawyer cleared his throat before the beta spoke up. "It's an amendment to your wife's last will and testament."

"You must be fucking kidding me." He stood up and paced the room. "What does it say?"

"In short? The omega has to stay under your roof until the age of twelve." He ducked as the glass still half full flew pass his head. He stayed hunched over, making sure that no other flying projectiles could connect with his body. When nothing happened, he straightened up again. "There was also another amendment made." This time he stepped backwards, knowing that if his boss heard the next part he would be capable of committing murder - not that he hadn't done so before.

"WHAT IS IT?"

"Your beta's will has been updated with **Regulation #180F**."

The Alpha remained silent and Fredericks couldn't help but to shiver. Nothing good ever came when this Alpha got quiet. "Are you telling me that I cannot get rid of the omega - that _bitch_?"

Fredericks grimaced at the word choice. Even though he had worked for DiNozzo for almost three years he had never gotten used to the fact that the man used the derogative name for omega and always referred to his pup as _bitch_. "Yes, Alpha."

"NO, I will not stand for that. I'm the Alpha. My word is law and I will not have that thing under my roof any longer."

"If you do not let Tony stay here you will forfeit everything." Fredericks took yet another step back. "I only had a few moments to study this amendment, but I feel it's watertight. You have to keep Tony here, until he’s twelve that is."

"Don't ever speak his name in front of me again." He whispered the words. It seemed like he had underestimated his wife and now even with her body lying cold on a table at the local mortuary she had him by the nuts and she was squeezing hard. He needed the money from her estate. A few of his last business deals had gone south and he was hardly keeping his head above water. He turned and closed the gap between them. "He's your responsibility and the day he turns twelve I don't want to see him ever again." He turned to walk away but then stopped. "Phone Emerson, tell him he can't have the bitch anymore."

An evil grin appeared on his face. "Wait, I do want to see him again. Since I don't have anyone to warm my bed anymore, and since I have to care for him for the next four years, I do see it as my responsibility to teach him to be a proper bitch."

Fredericks blanched at the words. Of all the amendments made to the omega regulations one was never changed. **Regulation #1B**. Tony now was his Alpha's personal pleasure giver. And there was nothing anyone could do about it. It was the one loophole that no one ever thought of closing. He had to take a seat when he heard the Alpha's voice rising through outside the door.

"Come on, bitch. Seems like I have to keep you for the next four years before I can get rid of you. In the mean time I'm going to teach you just what it means to be a real bitch. A cock sucking one at that."

Fredericks heaved into the waste bin next to the desk as the young omega walked past the open door. It didn't matter how many times he was put down by his father, or beaten to a near pulp, he always remained silent and always had the perfect posture. It was like watching someone walking to their own death. He had no idea what was in store for the young omega for the next four years or what would happen to him after that. Of one thing he was sure - young omega Anthony DiNozzo Junior would never be the same after tonight.

**TBC...**


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **NOTE:** I've changed the timeline around a bit with this fic. McGee, Kate and even Jimmy Palmer will already be working for and with Gibbs before Gibbs and Tony meet for the first time.

**Chapter 1**

**Balitmore PD 2001**

As Tony used the towel he kept in the cabinet behind his desk to clean the blood from his face, he couldn't help but to overhear the snide remarks directed at him from all over the open planned office. It no longer bothered him, growing up in the manner he did. All of the remarks just rolled off his shoulders. Most days he didn't even hear them, but on days like today, they did sting a bit.

Tony became aware of the person standing behind him and he squared his shoulders. By the lull in the conversations surrounding him, he knew it was their captain, Alpha Pierson. The man was a proper dick and not worthy of the title captain, but he had connections and now he ran the precinct. Tony took his time, folded the towel up neatly, stowing it away, before running a hand through his hair and only then did he turn around. He didn't bother acknowledging the captain's presence as he knew he wouldn't be greeted back. Instead, he waited patiently for the first reprimand he knew was coming his way for whatever reason.

"Haven’t I told you not to come in here bleeding? You are always stinking up the place."

Tony didn't bother to respond. The fact that he sustained the injury when he was attacked by a suspect in the interrogation room just a few minutes ago would not change things. The fact that he had to subdue and bring the much larger beta under control all by himself, also didn't matter. It also wouldn't have mattered that he'd collared a suspected murderer on a homicide case.

"Still not showing any respect to your superiors, I see. Another formal reprimand will go on your file." The captain sneered. "When will you realize, DiNozzo, that you're not welcome here? We do not want your kind here."

The anger boiled up suddenly and Tony stepped up to the captain. Even though he was an omega he towered at a height of 6'2'' and topped the captain by a good few inches. "My kind? I assume you're talking about me being an omega? Did you not read up on your regulations, captain? Did you not notice that we are no longer living in the dark ages? That I've got rights just as you and every other Alpha and beta in this place? They might still not be equal rights, but I do have rights and I would suggest you start remembering them." He sneered as he stood against the older man and had to smile as the man took an involuntary step backwards.

"I will have you bonded. You are unruly, a liability and you've just proven to all that you're a danger to everyone surrounding you. You have forgotten your place, and it's time you remembered where it should be." The captain turned away but Tony's voice barked through the office.

"My place? You mean kneeling on the floor, sucking cock like a good omega should? Or putting out when demanded by an Alpha? Taking the whip whenever the Alpha was in a bad mood, or for that matter a good mood?" Tony laughed and shook his head. "Been there and done that. Did not get a t-shirt, but I got the scars." He cocked his head and looked the captain up and down. "Like all the other pricks in this place you're not worthy of the title Alpha and if you think for one moment you'll get me bonded against my will, you're mistaken." Tony took a deep breath, turned on his heels, grabbed his pistol and back up from his drawer and went to stand in front of the captain again. "Now, if there was nothing else, captain, I'm leaving. I've got work to do. You know? Catching criminals, keeping the public safe, or have you forgotten the reason why you became a police officer in the first place?" Tony shook his head and made his way through the quiet squad room. None of the other officers met his gaze as he walked past them, head up high, shoulders straight.

****

\-- MINE --

**Washington Navy Yard: NCIS**

"What do you have for me, Ducky?" Agent Gibbs asked as he stepped into the ME's domain and walked over to where the elderly doctor was performing his latest autopsy.

"Ah, Jethro, just in time as always." Doctor Mallard put down his scalpel, ripped off the bloodied gloves, walked over to his desk and picked up a single sheet of paper, handing it over to the other man.

"As you are well aware, our young petty officer was severely tortured and his body mutilated, but the actual cause of death was the stab wound to the chest. But that's not what is bothering me. This is." He indicated to the last paragraph on the paper and waited for Gibbs to read it. He could see the moment the words sank in.

"He was an omega?"

"Indeed he was. I'm of the opinion that the mutilation of the body occurred to cover this up."

"Why?" Gibbs couldn't believe what he was reading. Whoever kidnapped and tortured the petty officer before killing him, also went through the trouble in cutting out the omega's mark. "Could you determine if it was done ante mortem?"

"Unfortunately not, his body is just too badly cut up. If it wasn't for his bloodwork, we wouldn't have known he was an omega." Ducky took a deep breath. "We're dealing with a sociopath, Jethro. One who does not show any remorse for his actions. I have a feeling this was not his first kill, and certainly not his last."

Gibbs nodded his head as he walked towards the sliding door. "I'll have Abby look into unsolved murders involving omegas."

"Jethro," Ducky waited for the Alpha to turn back and then continued. "Let her concentrate on mutilated bodies, I think that is his signature."

"Will do."

****

\-- MINE --

"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs." The young Goth chimed excitedly as she entered the bullpen. "I think I might have something." She shoved the papers in his hand, grabbed the remote from a stunned McGee who was about to explain something to Gibbs.

"What do you have, Abs?" Gibbs opened the file, but then turned his attention to the large screen as she flicked it on.

"Okay, so first of all I just have to say that we've got some really bad people out there. It took me a while to sort through everything, but I found this." She clicked once and the first photo appeared on the screen. "This John Doe 12/1999 was discovered on March the 6th, 1999. He was shot executioner style, but not before he was sexually assaulted and his body mutilated. His mark was also removed and the ME only realized he was an omega when, like with us, he received the bloodwork." She then continued to go through another seven similar cases, until she reached the year 2001. "This one, I think it's our latest one." She clicked the remote again and yet another gruesome photo appeared on screen. "This John Doe's body was found yesterday morning, only hours after ours. Once again, he was mutilated and cause of death is yet to be determined, although it looks like manual strangulation." She handed Gibbs another piece of paper. "Baltimore Police also have a suspect in custody. The detective in charge is a one DiNozzo." She shook her head. "But I don't think you'll get any assistance from him. From what I could gather about him was that he's a total ass. Not worthy of carrying a gold shield."

Gibbs frowned. He knew Abby was always open minded and couldn't believe that she would listen to stories like that. Gibbs looked at the piece of paper. "Concentrate on the case, Abs." He reprimanded her gently and then turned to face his junior agent. "McGee, liaise with Baltimore and tell them we're heading their way. Meet me downstairs in five minutes. He took the stairs two at a time and when he reached the Director's office, he knocked once before he entered.

"Gibbs," Director Morrow greeted his agent and friend.

"Tom. Just wanted to inform you we're heading over to Baltimore. Caught a possible lead in our case."

"I heard that we've got a possible serial killer on our hands, targeting omegas."

"Might be. Want to go and talk to the detective who made the arrest, see what they have." He didn't add that he was bothered by the fact that there might be a serial killer on the loose for the past two years and no one had seemed to catch on to it.

Morrow shook his head. "Ever heard of a phone, Gibbs?"

"My gut doesn't work over the phone, Tom." Gibbs replied as he exited the door. He had to smile as he heard his friend chuckle. He reached for his phone. "McGee, change of plans. Get back up here and start a search for any possible connection between our John Does." He sighed listening to McGee's question. "Yes, McGee I know they are all John Does, but our Petty Officer does have a name, so start there and work your way back. Let Kate start on that. I want you to run a check on Detective DiNozzo. Let me know the moment you're done with that. I'm heading over to Baltimore. I'll be back later." He ended the call and took the stairs down to the parking lot.

****

\-- MINE --

**Balitmore PD**

Gibbs reported to the desk sergeant and held out his badge. "Agent Gibbs, I need to speak to Detective DiNozzo."

The sergeant looked at Gibbs, looked at the badge and ID and then sighed. "You sure you want to talk to him? I know the Captain is in. He'll be able to assist you."

"Nope, want to speak to DiNozzo. Just point me in his direction."

The sergeant sighed, looked around and then shook his head. "He's not in."

"Any idea where he might be?" Gibbs was slowly starting to lose his patience.

"No idea." The sergeant went back to the ledger he was writing in, making sure Gibbs knew he was no longer talking to him.

"What about his partner, he in?" Gibbs barked out the question.

The sergeant started laughing. "Him? Have a partner? He's a waste of space, not worthy of a shield, especially not a gold one. He does not have a partner. He works alone."

Gibbs bristled and bit hard into his bottom lip not to lose his temper. "Where's your Captain's office?"

"Straight through, glass office in the corner."

Gibbs didn't reply but instead stepped through into the buzz of the squad room and made his way to the back office. He didn't bother to knock and walked straight in. It came as no surprise to find an Alpha behind the desk. Few precincts were guided by betas, the top positions were normally reserved for Alphas.

"Can I help you?"

"Supervisory Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. I'm here in connection with the suspect arrested in the John Doe homicide."

The captain looked blank for a moment. "He was cut lose about an hour ago. Not enough evidence."

"Not enough evidence?" This time Gibbs growled. McGee had managed to get an electronic copy of the evidence submitted and the suspect was not only found a mere block away from the scene, but his clothes were soaked in blood and the preliminary results indicated that it matched the same blood type as the victim. He could also give no reasonable explanation as to why his clothes were covered in blood.

"Our over eager detective made a mistake." He shrugged his shoulders.

Gibbs frowned. Something strange was going on here. "Is that detective DiNozzo you're referring to?"

"Yep, that's the one. Always messing up, don't know what he did to get that badge, but he sure as hell does not deserve it." The captain looked down at the paper he was reading. "Now, since there's nothing else here for you, close the door when you leave, I'm busy."

Gibbs had to mentally reign himself in. The man might be an Alpha, but Gibbs knew he could take him down without much effort. He knew Morrow would not be impressed if he did that. "Do you know where I could find detective DiNozzo?"

"The _bitch_ said something about following up on a cold case. Try downtown." The captain didn't even bother to look up from his paper.

Gibbs swallowed hard and something clicked in his mind. Detective DiNozzo was an omega and that was the reason why he received so much grief from his fellow officers. They couldn't stand the fact that an omega was solving cases and carrying a gold shield. "Just one more question, where can I find detective DiNozzo's partner?"

The captain snorted. "He works alone."

"So he has no backup?" Gibbs asked through clenched teeth.

"He's a _bitch_ , he doesn't deserve back up."

Gibbs made sure the glass door slammed shut as he walked out. He reached for his phone and could see McGee wince in his mind's eye as he barked over the phone for the young agent to ping the detective's number. His gut churned. Something bad was about to happen and he had a feeling that the omega would be right in the center of that mess.

****

\-- MINE --

**Downtown Baltimore**

Tony knew it was a bad idea to go into the abandoned building without backup, but he had no choice. He had been working on this cold case for almost a year and today he finally found the lead that he was looking for. One of his informants came through and provided him with the location of the suspect in the murder of four year old twins. This case had hit Tony hard and he had made himself a vow that he would not let this case go, not until the monster responsible was behind bars.

With his Sig drawn, he quietly made his way around the dilapidated structure, looking for a way in without going through the front door. A back window held no pane and he gently eased himself through the opening and quietly landed on his feet. He first scouted the room, making sure it was clear before he headed towards the door of the room. He was about to turn the knob when the floor boards creaked hard just outside of the room and he pressed himself against the wall. He was aware of the fact that he was holding his breath as the footsteps moved past. He remained on the spot until he no longer could hear the movement from outside of the room before he moved again. Tony slowly eased the door open. He had no idea if it would open smoothly or if it might squeak. His luck seemed to hold as he managed to open the door without difficulty and stepped into the hallway. Across from him there were two doors and he silently made his way across the corridor and opened the first door. It was another empty room, filled only with dust. Quickly he made his way to the next room. There he found a worn out mattress, some dirty dishes and a wall full of photos. Photos that wanted to make him gag and throw up the meager contents of his stomach. They were photos of young children. He couldn't be sure, but none of them looked older than six years. There were an equal number of boys to girls. All of the photos were grouped together and each set consisted of six photos each. The first photo in each group, was one of the child was fully dressed - it looked like it was taken by a professional. That was followed up with a photo of the child was playing, either in a yard, or at a park of some sorts. The third photo showed the child gagged and tied up. Tears and fear clearly visible on his/her face. The next photo made his stomach turn hard. It depicted the child naked, spread wide open. The second to last photo in each group showed the child being brutally raped and the last photo in each set showed the child dead - throat slit, eyes staring blankly ahead. Tony was so set on the photos he'd failed to notice someone entering the room. He only became aware of the stranger behind him when the man spoke into his ear.

"You don't seem too impressed with my art. In fact, I would say it looks like you're just about to lose your lunch." The man pressed the barrel of the pistol against Tony's spine. "Didn’t your mother ever tell you it was rude to enter someone's home without knocking?" The man reached for Tony's firearm and without moving his own that he held against his back, he managed to rid Tony of his back up pistol as well. "Move," the man grabbed Tony by the shoulder and yanked him back before shoving him out of the door and down the hall.

As they moved down the corridor, Tony wanted to kick himself for being so careless. He couldn't believe that he got himself caught. He knew he had some limited options in getting out of there. He could not even rely on backup to come to his rescue; no one at the precinct gave a damn. Tony knew he had to try and escape, but he was unarmed and he had no idea what sort of marksman his captor was. Even though he didn't like it, Tony knew he had to take his time and weigh all of his options before he tried to escape. He could only hope that he didn't run out of time while he waited.

The moment Tony stepped through the door, he gagged hard. The stench of death was overwhelming. He brought his hand up to his nose and mouth and in that moment the end of the pistol connected with a resounding crack to the back of his head, making his knees buckle and sending him hard to the floor. Even as he went down and lost consciousness the man didn't hesitate to kick him hard and repeatedly in his ribs and over the rest of his body. The audible crack of his ribs made the assailant laugh out loud. "Sweet dreams," the man whispered and then laughed again before he headed out of the door and locked it securely. He did not notice the way Tony's body twitched and then started to convulse as he seized up. He did not see the blood dripping from the back of Tony's skull or the growing wet spot between Tony's legs as he lost control over his bodily functions. And he certainly did not see when Tony stopped breathing.

****

\-- MINE --

Gibbs couldn't help but to repeat the information McGee shared with him over the phone in his head as he raced down the streets to the location McGee managed to secure. Anthony DiNozzo, at the age of twenty eight was one of the youngest detectives out there, and the youngest by a whole three years to obtain his gold shield. He graduated at the top of his class at the academy after he obtained a double degree with honors at Ohio state. He did not sound like an incompetent or lazy detective. He sounded like a person Gibbs would love to have on his team. The more he learned about the young detective the more he came to realize that not only were the Baltimore police trying to work Tony out, they were trying to Tony get killed and then they were going to blame it on him and the fact that he was an omega. Gibbs would not allow that.

Gibbs slowed his car down as he neared the address. He had spotted Tony's car by the description McGee had managed to obtain. He parked his own vehicle a few spots away and quickly made his way over to the address in question. Just looking at the place made Gibbs shiver. His gut told him not to try and gain entry through the front door and he made his way around the place. He spotted the broken window, but decided against entering there, instead he went looking for a back door. He found the second door and it was no surprise that it was locked. Utilizing his lock pick set, he managed to open the door within mere seconds and slipped into the darkened corridor unseen. The first door lead to a bathroom. He gave it a once over and then moved on. Just as he rounded the corner a man stepped out of a door a few steps from him. He stayed hidden as the man locked the door and he looked on as the man laughed hard while he shoved two of the firearms he had with him down his pants keeping the third in his hands. Gibbs' gut turned. He had never met detective DiNozzo, but he knew what a standard police sidearm looked like and he would bet his life that the one pistol the man stowed in his trousers was DiNozzo's. It could only mean one thing - DiNozzo was in danger. Gibbs knew he had to act fast. He waited until the man disappeared from sight before he went to the locked door. The bolts attached to the door took the decision out of his hands. He would not be able to gain access into the room with his lock picks only, that meant he had to go after the man first. He could only hope that the detective would be all right.

After Gibbs made sure that his own Sig pistol was at the ready, he moved deeper into the darkened house. He passed another two doors and on inspection, he found both empty and moved on. At the front of the home he found a small passage going sideways and a staircase that went down to what he assumed to be a basement. Gibbs knew he had to be careful and he slowly made his way down the stairs, taking his time in an attempt to make sure the stairs did not give his position away by creaking.

At the bottom of the stairs the area in front of him became wider. Right next to the stairs a large bookcase stood and Gibbs took up station behind that. He could hear the man humming deeper within the widened space. Step for step Gibbs moved forward until he could see around the corner of the bookcase. The man was facing away from him, busy working on something on a large work table. The pistol Gibbs had seen in his hand earlier was lying on the corner of the table. Taking up position at the man's back, he raised his weapon and called out. "NCIS, put your hands up, and step away from the table." For a moment Gibbs thought the man would obey the order, but then he moved and he tried to reach for the pistol on the corner. Gibbs did not give the man a chance to grab hold of the weapon, but pulled the trigger and shot the man once. No other shots were necessary as the man fell to the floor not moving again. Gibbs kept his weapon trained on the unknown man as he checked for a pulse and finding none, he started to search the man's pockets finding the set of keys he knew would open the door where he believed he would find the Baltimore detective.

Gibbs turned and took a proper look at the table the man was working on. It was covered with pieces of clothing, hair and different pictures. To Gibbs it looked like some sort of a collage. It was only then that he noticed that the pieces of clothing were covered in blood and the different colored hair all had a reddish tint to them. All the photos were of children and in that moment, Gibbs knew he had done society a favor by getting rid of this man.

Knowing there was nothing else he could do until the local police arrived, Gibbs made his way back up the stairs. He had his phone in his hand, waiting for dispatch the answer the call to report the incident when he managed to open the door. What he saw inside made him grow cold. A young man whom he assumed was DiNozzo was sprawled out on the floor. Blood pooled underneath his head and he didn't look like he was breathing. "Shit," Gibbs cursed as his fingers searched for a pulse, this time he hoped to find one. He had to feel again, his hand slightly shivering as he tried to hold on to the thought that the young detective might still be alive. He found the pulse, but there were no signs of breathing coming from the prone body.

"Officer down," he yelled into the phone. "Need immediate medical assistance at this location." Gibbs rambled off the address before he chucked the phone to the side and started with emergency breathing. He had no idea if anyone would show up to help, but he would not let this young detective die on his watch - of that he would make sure.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Baltimore Memorial Hospital**

"It has been five hours, Duck and no word. Why the hell is it taking so long?" Gibbs growled in frustration as he paced the waiting room of the surgical ward.

"From what you have told me, Jethro and from what I could gather from the medical personnel, the young detective has been gravely injured. It is going to take a while." Doctor Mallard tried to pacify his friend, but by the way the Alpha walked, knew he had failed. "You have yet to tell me about what transpired at the precinct."

Gibbs eyes turned cold at the mention of the omega's work place. "Let's just say that Tom would be proud of me. I'll be in contact with SecNav as well as the Police Commissioner tonight. What I witnessed there is an atrocity. That precinct is not serving the community; they are definitely not protecting the people. I will have that Captain's badge."

"Oh, dear. I didn't think it was that bad."

"Bad, Duck? It doesn't even start to describe what's going on there." He turned and took a seat next to the ME. "I had McGee do a background check on DiNozzo." He proceeded to inform Ducky about DiNozzo's gold shield and degrees. "I also found out that not only did he graduate at the top of his class from the academy, but he holds the highest closing rate at that precinct. He single handedly caught two serial killers, and with what I've seen in that basement today, a third. The suspect he had in custody for the John Doe murder was released, Duck. The Captain was of the opinion that there was not enough evidence to hold him and that his detective was over eager." Gibbs shook his head. "He has been in Baltimore for the last two years and since it's in his file that he's an omega he has worked solo. I was told in no uncertain terms that he doesn't deserve backup and, Ducky, the only reason why anyone showed up at that house earlier was because I called for help. I had a feeling that if DiNozzo was in a position to call for help, his cry would've been ignored. He would've died and, Ducky, they would've said he died because he was incompetent."

"I believed them," a soft voice spoke up from the door before Abby stormed in and slammed herself into Gibbs' chest, holding him tight. "I'm sorry, Gibbs. You know that's not like me, but for one or another reason I believed them. I haven't even met the man, and I already decided that he was worthless. I'm sorry."

"It's not to me you have to say you're sorry to, Abby." Gibbs hugged her for a second more and then released her. "You want to tell me why you decided that he was worthless? That he was not worthy of his shield?"

Abby lowered her head in shame. She sighed deeply and when she started to speak, she kept her head bowed. "You remember that forensic convention I went on a month or so back?" She didn't give them a chance to respond but continued talking. "Well, there were a few members of the Baltimore lab there as well and we got to chatting and we talked about the different people we work with and a comment was made about this detective that closed all of these cases, but they were all sure he was just stealing the collars of the other detectives because he was always in trouble with the captain and he never seemed to be following the rules, so they found it impossible for him to have done the investigative work by himself. They bad mouthed him and at that stage I just kept quiet, but then when this case came up I phoned one of the technicians over at Baltimore and that's when I learned that it was the same detective working on this case. The one they said was not worthy and I just decided that he couldn't be good enough and that's why I told you he's not worthy." She fumbled with her hands on her lap and then whispered. "I also thought he was incompetent because I knew he was an omega."

"Abigail Sciuto, I have never been so disappointed in you than I am right now. You of all people should know not to judge. Where would you be if people judged you by just looking at you? I cannot see how you could have done something like this." Ducky stood up and walked away from where Abby was still seated next to Gibbs. "I might only be a beta like you, Abby, but I am going to demand a formal reprimand against you and an apology from you on behalf of Detective DiNozzo. We have an Alpha in the room, and I'm stating my requests formally."

Abby's head snapped back as Ducky uttered the words. Generally betas were very mild mannered and they normally didn't make any formal demands, but usually sorted things out between them. She wanted to be upset, but she knew Ducky was right. She had made a terrible mistake, the least she could do was to apologize. For this reason without any hesitation she went on her knees and bared her throat at the Alpha that sat on the chair. "I accept the formal reprimand ordered for me by my fellow beta. I will formally apologize to the omega for my wrongdoings and I also accept any other reprimand handed down to me by this Alpha before I am kneeling now."

Gibbs was rendered speechless by Abby's last statement, but he couldn't let the seriousness of the situation slide. He took hold of Abby's ponytail and pulled it back further, exposing her neck even more, demanding submission from her. The light in his eyes showed that he was in total Alpha mode. "You will apologize to Detective DiNozzo the moment he's in a position to understand and appreciate your apology. If he does not accept your apology, it will not be for you to question why. You will further go and read up on all the omega regulations, reminding yourself on the great injustice that was done to them over the past eons. As you have no formal pack, I take responsibility for your actions. I will not place a formal reprimand on your file, even though you do deserve it. Instead, I will deal with your actions as those actions of a pup. You will report to my house when I call for you and you will receive corporal punishment. Do you accept this, or would you prefer to take this to a formal tribune?"

Abby wiped the tears from her cheeks as she nodded her head. She deserved this. "Yes, Alpha I accept. This will not be taken to a formal tribune." She sniffed hard. "I'm sorry, Gibbs."

Gibbs released the hold he had on Abby's hair and pulled her to his chest. "I know you are, Abby. We'll work this out." He let her sit next to him as he got up and started to pace the floor again.

Abby looked over to where Ducky was still standing at the window. She took a deep breath, got to her feet and made her way over to him. "I'm sorry, Ducky. I never intended to disappoint you."

"I know, Abigail. I know." He continued to look out of the window. "I know our education system always skims over omegas and their history. Do you know the real history when it comes to omegas, Abigail? Have you ever met an omega before, or dealt with one?"

Abby shook her head. In all honesty, she never really paid attention when anything was said about omegas. "I don't even think we spent a whole history lesson on them in school, Ducky. And in our work environment, I never thought omegas would work with us."

Ducky sighed. He would have to talk to the Director. It seemed like a lot of education on omegas was necessary, especially if he read Gibbs right. He had a feeling that the Alpha was planning on getting the young detective to work for him as soon as he was back on his feet. He also knew Gibbs would quote his own rules; Rule #5 - don't waste good. He looked at his watch and over to where Jethro was once again pacing the floor, this time with his phone against his ear. "We've got a bit of time on our hands, let me tell you a story."

 _“'Evolution takes a long time. In fact, we are still changing on a daily basis, and although we do not see it now, years from today we will be able to see the changes that took place clearly.'_ Do you know who said that?"

Abby shook her head. "I'm not sure, but wasn't it one of the first ruling Alphas?"

Ducky sighed. "No, it was said by an unknown omega. But, since we believe that no omega could say anything that made sense or could be believed, the omega who spoke those words were executed and the Alpha who ordered the execution claimed the words for himself. It was that action that brought the 1789 Regulation into operation; especially the second part. _‘As Alphas have the ultimate control over omegas, no omega may go against the will of his Alpha. Any omega will be punished severely in any fitting way as decided by his Alpha.'_ "

Abby blanched at Ducky's words. "The omega was executed because of what he said?"

"Yes, and the Alpha justified his actions by saying that he had the ultimate control over his omega and since he was one of the first Alpha's to rule all of the packs this was written into the books."

"But that's not fair."

"Life in general is not fair, Abigail. Even more so for omegas, and still to this today. Gibbs is right. You need to go and read the omega regulations. And you need to understand that they are part of our life, our community. Just because they are different does not make them less important. I referred to you earlier. You are a beta, a strong one as well, but you are also a Goth. You see how people treat you; can you imagine being an omega and having almost the whole world against you, just because you're different?"

"But it's not the same, is it?" She asked softly.

Ducky couldn't get angry at the question. Most pack members felt the same. "Why is it not the same, Abigail? Are you saying they are sub-standard? Not able to think for themselves? A burden to society? Uncontrollable, high maintenance? Dangerous and a liability?"

Abby shook her head hard. "No, that's not what I'm saying. I would never say that. But they are different, Ducky."

A light went on for the older beta and he patted Abby gently on the arm. "It's about the bonding." He smiled. "Yes, on that, you are correct. They are different and my personal opinion on why they are treated differently is because of that and jealousy." He sighed as he remembered his own bond. "I was bonded many years ago, Abigail. To a very special woman, one that up until today I miss with every breath I take. I talk to her each evening, just telling her what cases we worked on, what I did and about my friends. Your parents were bonded, Abigail, so you must know something about the type of relationship they shared?"

For a moment Abby was speechless. She was never aware of the fact that Ducky was bonded. She always thought he was a loner. She nodded her head. "Yes, they were so close. They could finish one another's sentences and being deaf was quite the accomplishment." She smiled. "They knew each other inside and out."

"The same with my bonded mate. Since both of us were betas we had it easy. We never fought for dominance and we always talked things out. With your parents I assume it was more or less the same since I know your father was a beta as well?" Ducky inquired gently.

"Yes, they were both betas and they always talked things out. They always encouraged me to become what I wanted to and to never hold back."

"They only wanted to have the best for you, Abigail." Ducky cleared his throat. "Now, take the happiest moment you ever saw between your mother and father and hold that in your mind." He waited a minute for the young woman to gather her thoughts before he continued. "Take that moment that you saw and intensify that moment of happiness by a hundred." He smiled as he saw her frown. "Not possible, is it?" He prodded gently when she remained silent.

"I don't know if it is possible to be happier."

"omegas are different in that aspect. They have the ability to feel emotions much more intense and that scares the rest of us. omegas will never be happy with just being bonded. Don't get me wrong, they will grow under a healthy relationship with an Alpha, and for that matter even a strong beta, but the only time an omega will be truly content is when they meet their soul mates. And that's where our history got it wrong. They thought they could help omegas by placing those strict limitations on them, making sure they are bonded as early as possible. Or even taking it further and forcing them to bond. The fact that we've now realized that we can't let them bond just because we feel it would be better for them is a step in the right direction, but as you know, Abigail, there are still laws in place that can force an omega to bond when an Alpha feels like an omega is placing his own life or the life of others in danger, and that has not changed."

"We're scared because they can feel more than we can?" Abigail frowned. The last half an hour she started to realize just how little she knew about omegas and she truly felt ashamed. 

"Yes, they tend to carry their heart and their emotions on their sleeves. But there's another reason why omegas are different." Ducky looked over at Gibbs and was surprised to find the Alpha seated, listening to them. He cocked his eyebrow and smiled as Gibbs indicated to him to proceed. He turned his attention back to the young Goth in front of him. "Most Alphas are short tempered, gruff and all in all not very sociable." He smiled when he saw Gibbs roll his eyes. "When we still roamed the earth in our natural form as wolf, the rest of the animals saw us as strong, independent, clever, but aloof. We mated for life, held our pack to the highest standard and never left anyone behind. It didn't matter if it was an Alpha, a beta or even an omega wolf. Everyone was loved and cared for. Then the great war of all species happened and we realized that although our Alphas were the best fighters and our betas could stand their ground, those Alphas who were bonded to omegas always returned home from the battlefield. It was as if something drove them to fight that little bit better. It was their omegas. The bond between an Alpha and his bonded omega was one that could not be broken and at the end of the war, we as the wolf were unbeatable. omegas balanced their Alphas; in a sense they became one. But then evolution arrived and instead of remembering our history, we started to focus more on our differences, driving a wedge between pack members, even between family members. And where before we roamed the earth on four legs, we now walk on two and only need to shift once a month when we had to, or rarely when we wanted to. We became jealous. And instead of treasuring the bond that existed between an Alpha and omega, we shunned omegas, made them the outcast in all packs and created laws to make sure that omegas never had any power over us. It didn't matter that they never had any power to begin with." Ducky went silent for a long time before he spoke up yet again. "There's something else that society tends to forget. Just like all males are responsible for the gender of any child, so are Alphas responsible for omegas. The omega gene is carried by the Alpha, not by the beta; it means an omega can only be born out of a bonding between an Alpha and a beta." He looked over at Abby. "The same Alphas whose genes are creating omegas are also trying to rid the earth of them. I just can't help but wonder when they would start realizing that if they do not want omegas to roam the earth, they need to get rid of the Alphas to do that."

Both Abby and Gibbs bowed their heads, both deep in thought about what Ducky had just told them. Abby was about to respond when someone stepped into the waiting room.

"Alpha Gibbs?" The man in the scrubs asked as he looked in Ducky's direction.

"That's me." Gibbs responded and got to his feet. "How is he, how is detective DiNozzo?"

The man sighed and tiredly dragged his hand through his hair. "Do you mind if we sit down, it's been a long few hours." He ignored Gibbs' question.

At first Gibbs wanted to refuse, but he could see how tired the man looked and he nodded his head in agreement. He took a seat next to the man and repeated his question for the second time. "You gonna tell me how he is?"

"Ah, yes. Sorry." He held out the clipboard he had with him. "This is the form you signed when you arrived here, right?"

Gibbs growled. "Yes, what about it?"

"Then we've got a slight problem. You listed yourself as the omega's Alpha, but according to our systems the omega's Alpha is the captain over at Baltimore precinct. We contacted him and he made it perfectly clear that you are not allowed any access to, or information on the omega's status." He looked down at the board on his thigh. "I therefore cannot disclose any information to you on how the omega is doing, and I have to ask you to leave. The omega's Alpha does not wish you to be here." He looked up as two burly men filled the entrance to the waiting room. "Security is here to escort you out."

Abby looked confused, Ducky wanted to object, but it was Gibbs, who came to his feet first. "If you for one moment think that you're going to get rid of me so easily you're making the mistake of your life." He took out his badge and held it up for the doctor and the two security guards to see. "I am Supervisory Senior Agent Gibbs with NCIS. Detective DiNozzo is under my protection until such time he is in a position to talk for himself. If you do not believe me, contact the administrator of this hospital. You will find that he has all the necessary papers in his possession to substantiate my claim."

The doctor looked at the badge, the determined expression on the Alpha before him and nodded his head. "I will check this out." He indicated to the two officers. "They will remain here in the mean time. I will be back shortly."

As he left, Abby snorted. "And where does he think we want to go if we don't wait here?"

"I think he might believe we would go and look for the young detective on our own." Ducky shook his head. "And if this captain is so concerned, why is he not here?"

"Believe me, Ducky. He's not concerned. He just wants a pissing contest and has yet to learn that I don't piss against a fire hydrant like a common dog." Gibbs snarled at the two guards as he pulled out his phone and dialed McGee's number. He had a feeling that this was more about the fact that NCIS took control over the crime scene than about the young omega fighting for survival somewhere in the hospital.

"McGee, the locals giving you trouble?" He asked as the young agent answered his phone on the third ring. He nodded his head to whatever the agent said. "Get Balboa and Pacci's teams to help you. And make sure that no one of Baltimore PD gets on the scene." He ended the call without saying goodbye and then called a second number. "Tom," Gibbs said as the director answered the phone. "Did SecNav come through?" He smiled at the reply. "Good." He then shook his head. "I'll update you as soon as I know myself." Gibbs cleared his throat. "Thank you, Tom." He ended the call and turned to face his two companions.

"You said thank you," Abby smiled. "I will never forget this moment in my whole life." She grinned as he slapped her softly on the back of her head.

"I do have manners, Abby."

"Yes, indeed you do have, Jethro. You just don't use them often enough." Ducky replied. "Care to share with us what all of this was about."

"Let's just say I got in contact with Morrow and with SecNav and both had a few words with the Police Commissioner. I suspected that the captain would make it difficult for me to stay in contact with detective DiNozzo so I not only wrote my name on his admission forms, but got temporary custody of him as his Alpha, signed off by both the Commissioner and SecNav. It will be reversed the moment he's up and on his feet."

"Clever thinking, Jethro, clever thinking." Ducky slapped Jethro on the shoulder.

"I don't understand." Abby spoke up.

"You know about regulation #180F, Abby. I have a feeling that the captain would use that to bind Tony to someone, most likely to himself to get him under his control. He would say that this last incident gave him the perfect right to do just that. He would've ended DiNozzo's career and would've said that all that happened was DiNozzo's fault just to save face. Now with DiNozzo under my custody and protection he can't touch him. This mess can be cleaned up, and the blame can't be placed on DiNozzo's shoulders."

Gibbs turned back as he heard the two guards moved. The same doctor as before entered the room. He had extra papers in his hands. He handed them to Gibbs. "Your claim checks out." He turned to the two guards and dismissed them with a nod of his head. He then turned back to the three people. "I'm sorry about earlier. I have to follow procedure. Lets' take a seat and I will discuss the omega's status with you."

Gibbs shook his head. "I want another primary physician appointed over Detective DiNozzo's case. You, will in the meantime, hand over all files to Doctor Mallard and you will make sure that he is up to date on Detective DiNozzo's condition."

The doctor bristled. "Why?"

"Why? Why do I want another primary physician appointed or why will you make sure that Doctor Mallard is up to date on detective DiNozzo's condition?" Gibbs shook his head. "Because you don't see detective DiNozzo for who he is. You see him as an omega that doesn't mean a thing. Not once did you refer to him by his name, but kept on referring to him as omega. If you cannot see him as anything other than just an omega, you cannot give him the care he so desperately needs. Doctor Mallard is a qualified MD and Detective DiNozzo's personal physician from now on as he falls under my care. Make sure you hand everything over to Doctor Mallard and get another doctor appointed, otherwise I will make sure you never get to practice medicine ever again." Gibbs walked over to the door in the direction of the nurse's station. "I'll be in DiNozzo's room, Ducky."

"Yep, definitely not a dog that pisses against a fire hydrant." Abby spoke up as she looked on at where Gibbs shoved his badge and the papers the doctor handed him into the hands of the nurse on duty and demanded access to the detective's room.

Ducky smiled, but quickly turned serious again. "Let's get started. Please, tell me all about Detective DiNozzo's condition."

****

\-- MINE --

**Baltimore Memorial Hospital: Three days later**

"How long still, Duck?" Gibbs asked. He was seated next to the bed, his hand tangled up with the hand that was sprawled out on top of the sheets.

"Until he's ready to wake up, Jethro. The young man has been through the bender and you know I don't only mean the attack that landed him in here." Ducky shook his head as he thought back on what he'd learned about young Anthony's condition when he was handed the file three days ago. He'd suffered from a hairline skull fracture where the perp had hit him with the butt of the gun on the back left side of his head, which caused an epidural hematoma. Luckily for Tony it was a slow bleeder, but they had to operate as the pressure on his brain kept on increasing and they feared brain damaged. The fact that he had seized twice in the ambulance and again just before they pushed him into the OR was even more of a concern. He was rushed to surgery and they performed a craniotomy. It was deemed as a success, although even three days later the neurologist had yet to order the removal of the intra-ventricular catheter that indicated the intracranial pressure inside of the young man's skull. What made it worse was the fact that Anthony's face was still swollen quite a bit. He also knew Jethro was concerned about the fact that Anthony was hooked up to a ventilator, the surgeon preferring to keep him on it as a precaution.

When Anthony was attacked, the man had managed to do more than enough damage to his ribs, breaking two, one going through the left lung. They were also concerned about his kidneys as they sustained heavy bruising during the attack and were struggling to function correctly. Another concern was the fact that the 6' 2" man was about twenty pounds underweight, his immune system in tatters and Ducky was of the opinion that if it wasn't for this attack, the young man would've ended up in hospital due to a complete breakdown within a few weeks. What shocked him even more, was the number of scars indicated in his file. Most of them, all older than ten years, clearly sustained by a whip, belt and other instruments. He couldn't help but to ponder over the young man's history as he thought about those marks. He had to have been a minor when those marks were placed on him. There were a few stab wounds, and two bullet wounds sustained in the line of duty that Ducky knew from the information in the file. He looked up at the sleeping face of the man who managed to stir something inside of the Alpha that held his hand so tightly within his own. He was startled when Jethro spoke up next to him.

"Will he have to be on the anticonvulsant medication permanently?"

"It's too early to tell, Jethro, but no, I don't believe so." Ducky replied.

"I want him on my team, Ducky." Gibbs looked over to the file that he requested and that was delivered the day before.

Ducky smiled. "Without you becoming angry with me, but I do think you want him more than just to be on your team, Jethro." His gaze landed where Gibbs was stroking the back of Anthony's hand with his thumb.

Gibbs sighed. "There's just something about him, Duck. I have yet to speak one word with him, but I can't imagine not having him in my life. I know I will have to tread carefully. From what I've seen in his file the only thing he received from Alphas was suffering and pain. I don't want him to even associate me with that concept." He looked up. "Is this how it feels to find your mate, Ducky?"

"Oh, my. I never thought of that, but it is possible." Ducky looked at the monitors that surrounded the still unconscious man. "I need to try something, but only with your permission. I do promise that no harm will come to Anthony."

"What do you want to do, Ducky?" Gibbs frowned. His hand tightened around the one he held close.

"Remember when we had to leave the room when the nurses wanted to clean Anthony up and his vitals started going all over the place?"

Gibbs nodded, "You told me it was nothing."

"And yes, that's what I thought, but it might have been something. And I have to make sure before I talk to you about it more. Please, would you step out of the room for a moment. You don't need to go far, but do close the door behind you. I promise not to leave his side."

Gibbs took a long time before he nodded his head and an ever longer time for him to remove his hand from Anthony's. He lingered for a few moments at the end of the bed before he finally stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. He took two steps to the left and leaned against the door. Already he was feeling a tightness around his chest as if there was something missing. He was about to step back and storm back in when Ducky called out to him and he quickly came back in. He saw the difference in the vitals for himself. Tony's oxygen level has dropped and his blood pressure and shot up and even his pulse was rapid. "Duck?"

"He will be all right, look, it's stabilizing again." Ducky showed him the numbers on the monitors as he took his seat next to the bed again.

"What's going on, Duck?"

"I think you are mates, Jethro. Definitely life mates, but knowing you and how you never do anything half, I wouldn't be surprised if you are soul mates." Ducky grinned. "I cannot wait for you to explain this one to the Director."

"You sure, Ducky?" Gibbs shook his head. It was different to wonder about it than to be told that what he felt was indeed true.

"Are you sure, Jethro?" Ducky smiled again. He never thought that he would see Gibbs find a bond mate. Finding a soul mate was even more special.

"Separating mates and taking their vitals are one of the easiest ways to detect and establish bonds. When you were outside, did you chest tighten up, did you start to feel short of breath?" Ducky asked as he noted Anthony’s vitals in his file.

"Yes, I did. I was about to storm back in when you called me back." Gibbs admitted.

"That's enough proof for me." Ducky reached out and placed a hand on the Alpha's shoulder. "I think congratulations might be in order here, Jethro."

Gibbs was speechless and then groaned. "Tom is going to have a field day with this." He always rolled his eyes when Tom talked about the bond he shared with his bond mate. He always stated to Tom that he didn't believe in that kind of thing, and now, now it looked like he was bonded to a man he had not spoken to yet, and to make things even more complicated he was about to gain a mate for the rest of his life and an omega at that.

"You would have to inform the omega council, Gibbs." Ducky's voice sounded heavy.

"Fuck," Gibbs cursed. He had very little dealings with the council that regulated all omegas, but from the dealings he did have with them before he knew he didn't like any of them at all.

"I feel exactly the same my friend." Ducky sighed. "I would suggest you contact Tom immediately and appoint him as your second Alpha. In that way they would have to go through him to talk to you and to deal with Anthony. Hopefully that will keep them off your back for a while. Or until Anthony is well enough to deal with them himself."

"How long can we keep this silent, Duck?"

"For as long as you want to and Anthony doesn't object. But is that a wise decision?"

"He's been through hell, Duck. You said it yourself earlier, he's got a long road ahead of him and to deal with those asses will only place more stress on him. I assume he will recognize me as his mate when he wakes up, depending on what he says, then we'll take it from there." He held up his hand when he saw Ducky wanted to say something. "I will, however phone Tom and tell him about this. He has the right to know that my status has changed to being a bonded Alpha."

"I was going to suggest that you do that. As for the rest, I do agree wholeheartedly with you." He looked at his watch. "Now, if you and your mate will excuse me. I need to run a few errands and I will be back in a few hours. Try and get some rest, Jethro. I have a feeling that when your mate finally wakes up, you're going to need it."

"You think he's going to be a handful, Ducky?"

Ducky barked out laughing. "More than just a handful, Jethro. But you will be up to the challenge, of that I'm sure." He exited the room with a smile on his face.

Gibbs looked on as his friend left and turned his attention back to the man in the bed. Maybe he was supposed to freak out. It was not every day you step out of a hospital room just to come back in and be informed that you've not only found your life mate, but also your soul mate. But he didn't. It felt right, it felt natural. He took the omega's hand in his and spoke up. "There are so many gaps in that file of yours. So many gaps that I know were filled with hardship, but hear my promise - I will protect you with all I have. I will never lie to you, I will never hurt you, I will love you with my last breath." He leaned over and kissed the younger man softly on the forehead. "You are my mate and I am yours." He whispered the last words and as he made the solemn promise to his mate.

****

\-- MINE --

**48 Hours Later**

Tony became aware of different sounds as he slowly drifted back to consciousness. The first smell made him groan out loud, and he could feel his stomach rebelling against the offending odor. He immediately knew that he was in hospital. It always smelt like death. He tried to remember how he could've gotten there, but he kept on drawing a blank. With a sigh, he realized that his eyes were still closed so he tried to open them, but then hissed hard as the harsh light assaulted his sensitive eyes. "Fuck," he croaked the word out and swung his arm across his eyes to block out the assaulting light. He hissed in pain as something ripped from his arm and he knew without even bothering to look that he'd managed to free the IV line that was inserted in his vein. Already he could feel the blood dripping down his arm and the cool liquid that was contained in the line wetting the bed. He was slowly starting to feel the pain that pulsed through his body and he groaned again. He took a deep breath and slowly removed his arm from his eyes, blinking in quick succession in an attempt to get used to the bright lights. Finally, he managed to keep his eyes open and had a look around the room. He was surprised to find himself in a private room. Normally he ended up in a general ward; no single rooms were ever allocated to omegas like him. Tony tried to sit up, but nearly yelled as wave after wave of intense pain flared through his body. He flopped back against the bed and breathed hard. He tried to get his ragged breathing under control as black spots sought to overtake his vision.

"What the hell are you trying to do, kill yourself?" A voice snarled from the door and Tony looked on as an Alpha with gray hair and the bluest eyes he'd ever seen stormed in.

"Not that it has anything to do with you, but no, I was not trying to kill myself." Tony rasped out the words as he took a closer look at the Alpha who walked straight up to him, took his arm in his hand and with a piece of gauze he got from somewhere, placed pressure on the ripped out IV mark in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"You could've fooled me. I leave you alone for a minute and already you managed to injure yourself. Ducky's right, you are going to be a handful." The Alpha mumbled more to himself than addressing Tony directly and it made the omega bristle with anger.

"I don't know who you are, but you're clearly not a doctor and since I don't know you, I would like you to leave my room. Now." Tony tried to pull his arm away, but the man kept the hold he had over him. He didn't even bother to address the obnoxious man with his title as Alpha.

The Alpha continued to ignore him until he lifted the gauze away and took a look at the small puncture mark. "At least that stopped bleeding."

Tony was about to reply when the door to his room opened again and yet another man entered. It was a beta. "You're awake. That's good. You had us quite worried, young Anthony." The beta walked up to his bed and pulled out his file that was placed at the bottom of his bed. "What on earth are you doing, Jethro?"

"He managed to tear his IV line out, Duck." The Alpha called Jethro responded as he took the bloodied gauze and tossed it in the medical waste container.

"Oh, dear. Let me have a look." The beta called Duck stepped closer and Tony growled, making both men stop and look at him.

"I don't know who you are, but get the hell out of my room." He didn't need to hear the whining sound of the monitors to know his BP was on the up and that his pulse was starting to race. He was starting to have difficulty breathing and the black spots that threatened to take his vision away and send him into oblivion reappeared. Things became fuzzy as someone pushed him back against the pillows.

"You need to calm down, young man. Take some deep breaths for me."

Tony shook his head. He didn't want to calm down, he wanted them out of his room and he wanted them gone now. He tried to push the hands away that were holding him down, but found himself unable to do so. He became aware of more sounds emanating from the various monitors that surrounded him. He thought he could hear the old man speaking to him, but it sounded far away as if he was speaking under water.

"You need to calm him down, Jethro. He is heading straight for a panic attack by the look of things." Ducky stood to the side and knew it was time for the Alpha to step in.

"I can feel that, Duck." Gibbs growled as he took up his place next to Tony's head and turned the young man's face so that he could look him in the eye. "Breathe with me, Tony. Come on, you can do it." He had placed Tony's hand over his chest and his own hand over Tony's chest to establish a physical connection between them. A spark of something passed between them before Gibbs took a deep breath and slowly released the air from his lungs and filled them up again, nodding with encouragement as he saw Tony mimicking his actions the second time around. Steadily and surely he managed to bring Tony's breathing under control until the monitors stopped with their whining and Tony had a bit more color in his face. "You feeling better?"

Tony could only nod his head. The congested feeling he had across his chest had disappeared and he was oddly calm. He looked at the two men again. "Who are you?" He asked tiredly and had to force himself to stay awake.

"I am Doctor Mallard, but my friends call me Ducky. I am one of your primary physicians while you here in the hospital. And this is Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He is..."

"An Alpha." Tony acknowledged the man's status for the first time. He shook his head. "We're bonded." It was strange on how utterly calm he was when the realization hit him. He could feel the hum of the bond between them. It was something he never thought he would never feel. It was the thing stories were made of and he long ago stopped believing in fairy tales. He had never felt like this before. It made him feel so many different things at the same time. He felt safe, something that he had not felt for a very long time, but it also made him feel scared and angry. It was the last emotion he concentrated on when he spoke again. " _He_ did it. He went through with his threats and used Regulation #180F against me." Tony shook his head again. "That fucking bastard. He bonded me and then he didn't even have the balls to bind me to him, but then who wants to be bound to an omega; certainly not him of all Alphas." He looked up at the two men. "I did not concede to this bond. I am not a liability or a danger to myself or to anyone else, I will not adhere to this." He remained silent on the fact that he could feel the Alpha inside of him. He had a feeling that it was more than just a forced life bond. They were soul bound.

Gibbs stepped up to the bed and placed his hand on the Tony's shoulder. He knew DiNozzo was referring to Alpha Pierson. "He did not bond you. He has no power over you. Yes, we are bonded, but not by him. By me; by us. We are life mates. I did not want you to find out in this way."

Tony snorted. "And please, do tell, how did you want me to find out? Or were you planning on wooing me with chocolates and flowers? I do not believe in life mates. It's an illusion created by lovesick people who had nothing else to do than to conjure up soppy stories." He did not want to believe; he did not want his heart to get shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Well, at least you have that in common, Jethro." Ducky muttered as he checked Anthony's vitals and at the same time managed to reinsert the IV line. "You really need to calm down. Up until a few minutes ago you were still unconscious, but I do get the feeling that I'm talking to a brick wall." He turned his attention to the man standing next to him. "Do not get him worked up. And do not get yourself worked up, you know it will only transfer back to him, making him work himself up again." He reached out and placed a comforting hand on Tony's shoulder. "I know nothing is making sense right now, but please, give Jethro a chance to explain. I will see you again in the morning." With that Ducky took his leave and exited the room, leaving an agitated omega and a frustrated Alpha behind.

Gibbs wanted to curse his friend for leaving him alone with the young man, but he also knew this was one thing that he needed to sort out and that Ducky could not fight this battle for him. He rubbed absent-mindedly over his chest and frowned. "You're in pain."

At first Tony wanted to deny it, but he knew it would not be a good thing. "I am hurting."

"Let me call the nurse." Gibbs reached for the call button and was surprised when Tony's hand covered his.

"Please, don't." Tony removed his hand. "I don't do well on pain meds, it makes me go all loopy."

"I don't want you to be in pain."

The sincere words caught Tony off guard. "You really mean it." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to Alphas being friendly, or nice, or sincere towards me."

Gibbs looked at the stunned expression that decorated Tony's face and all that he wanted to do was to replace it with one of trust - trust in him. "I know we've started off on the wrong foot, I can feel your pain, even though I do have a feeling that you're masking it. We need to talk, but you also need to rest. Let me get you something for the pain. I know you don't know me, and you've got every right to distrust me, but all that I can do is to promise you that I will keep you safe until you're up and on your feet again."

Tony stared at the Alpha for a long time and finally he nodded his head. "Okay."

Gibbs nodded and pressed the call button, telling the nurse that Tony was in pain and although he stood to the side when she quickly checked on Tony, he didn't move far away. He looked on as she injected something in the port and closed the door as she exited the room. Only then did he take the seat which he had been occupying the past five days. He stretched out his hand in greeting. "Let's start this over. I'm Gibbs, special agent at NCIS and your bonded life mate."

Tony looked at the offered hand and then at the blue eyes that locked with his. Slowly he reached out and took the hand with his. "I'm Tony, and apparently I'm your bonded life mate." He could feel the drugs pulling him down and although he didn't want to sleep he couldn't help but to be drawn to the darkness. He was dimly aware of the fact that Gibbs told him that he could sleep and that the man didn't let go of his hand. At that moment it felt right.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **WARNING:** This section contains adult spanking for disciplinary purposes.

**Chapter 3**

**The following afternoon**

"You sure about this, Gibbs?" Tom Morrow asked as he stood with the newly drawn up papers in his hands. 

"I'm positive, Tom." Gibbs replied calmly. 

"Okay, but humor me and answer one question." Tom placed the papers on the table next to him. "I've known you for years and in all of that time you always said the same thing. You don't believe in bond mates, and yet, not only do you now claim that you've found your bond mate, but you've already changed your paperwork to indicate that you are bonded and you're telling me that this DiNozzo might even be your soul mate and you're totally relaxed about it. Why?" 

"My gut." 

"Your gut? That's it? That's the answer? Your gut." Tom shook his head. "I have to say Gibbs, in this instance I do feel you are relying way too much on that gut of yours. What if you're wrong?" 

"Nope, not possible. Never been wrong." Gibbs grinned. "Of all the things I've done in my life, Tom, this, this is the one thing I'm totally sure of. Tony is my mate and I'm well aware that it will not be smooth sailing all the way, but I know it will work out." 

"Okay, I can accept that, but if you ever need to talk to someone, you know my door is always open for you, Gibbs." Tom picked the papers up again. "I will make sure this gets back to legal. I will also place a copy in my home safe." 

"Thank you, Tom." Gibbs took his leave, he was already late, but he had one last stop to make. He could only hope that Tony survived Ducky, or maybe he should be worried if Ducky survived Tony. He had a feeling that his young omega could be very high maintenance if not handled correctly. 

As he drove home, he thought about the task that awaited him there. It was time to deal with Abby's behavior. He had told her to go to his home and wait for him there. That was already an hour ago, he could only hope that she used the time wisely to think about what she had done wrong. 

He found Abby in the basement. She was standing in the corner, her posture near perfect, except for her slumped shoulders. By the way she was sniffling, he knew she had been crying. "Are you crying because you're feeling sorry for yourself, Abs?" He inquired as he descended the stairs. 

"No, Gibbs." Abby used her sleeve to clean her face. 

"Then why are you crying?" He asked at her back, not letting her turn around or come out of the corner yet. 

"Because I listened to stories that held no truth. Because I formed an opinion of someone who I've never met and judged him." 

"Did you read up on the regulations?" He asked as he opened up the steel cabinet that stood in the corner, removing some items from it. 

"Yes, Gibbs." She sniffed again. 

"What did you think of them?" 

"That it's wrong and although some progress was made, discrimination against omegas still exists." She took a deep breath. "I never looked at them before, Gibbs. For me it was just something that had nothing to do with me so I didn't take notice." 

"And now?" He locked the cabinet and walked over to where she was still standing, nose in the corner. 

"It impacts me and everyone. We are a pack; we cannot live in isolation from one another. What impacts one, impacts all of us." 

Gibbs smiled. He was impressed with the change of attitude Abby went through. He could only hope that her change would be continuous. "Do you accept the punishment handed down to you?" 

Abby bowed her head. "Yes, Gibbs, I do. I acted like a child, so I must be treated like one." 

"Good." Gibbs pulled up a chair and placed it in the middle of the room and sat down. "And how are pups punished?" 

"By a good spanking on the tush, Gibbs." She shivered. Never in her life did she have to endure being spanked. 

"Correct," Gibbs picked up the paddle and placed it on his lap. "Turn around and come to me." He ordered her and waited patiently for her to follow his order. He saw the moment when she noticed the paddle and her eyes grew large. 

"Gibbs," she trembled in fear. 

"I'm going to give you a choice here, Abby." Gibbs took the wooden paddle and held it up for her to take a proper look. "You can choose between the paddle or my hand, Abby. If you choose the paddle, you will take twenty, ten on each cheek. If you choose my hand, I will continue until I think you've learned your lesson well and that it has sunk in properly." 

Abby looked at the paddle and then at Gibbs' hand. The paddle looked huge and she had a feeling could cause a lot of damage to her sensitive backside. Gibbs' hand on the other hand was smaller, although not by much, but surely it wouldn't be so hard and there would be no way in which he'd be able to hit her as hard with his hand as with the paddle. And since he would be using his hand the sting would travel to his own skin and that would make him want to keep it short, otherwise he would injure his own hand as well. She nodded her head in agreement with her own internal debate. "Your hand, please." 

Gibbs nodded his head. "You sure?" 

"Yes, Gibbs." She sniffed again. 

"Okay. Once you are in position you will not move away, you will also not try to block any of the strokes with your hands. Should you do either of these I will start afresh, you understand?" 

Abby's eyes grew even bigger. She nodded her head and had to clear her throat before she could manage to answer. "Yes, Gibbs." 

"Good. Now remove your skirt and panties and drape yourself over my lap." 

"What? No," Abbby shook her head. "Not without clothes and over your lap. I can't." 

"And why not?" Gibbs asked, his tone hardened. 

"I'm a woman." 

"Yes, I'm aware of that, and I'm your Alpha, Abby. That gives me the right to punish you in any way I see fit." 

"But, but, I'm not a child." The moment the words left Abby's mouth she blushed. She acted like a child, so it was well within Gibbs' right to treat her like one. She had also agreed mere minutes ago that she acted like a pup and pups get a thorough hiding on their backside. 

"I see you worked that one out for yourself." Gibbs sighed. "You can either do it this way, Abby, or you can take this to a tribunal." 

Abby shook her head. She had never appeared in front of a tribunal before, but she had heard that their punishments were always worse than what the original punishment ever was. 

"Then get in position. I know this is difficult for you, Abby. Believe me if I tell you, it's difficult for me as well." 

The tears ran down her cheeks as she moved her hands to her skirt to lower the material from her hips. She sobbed hard as she managed to undress and stood in front of the Alpha in her lace panties. "Please, Gibbs." She wasn't begging him to stop, but rather to help. 

Gibbs reached out to her and pulled her on his lap as she latched onto his hand. He moved her into position and then hooked his fingers around the thin lace and pulled the small piece of material down until it bundled up just underneath her cheeks. By this time Abby was sobbing hard. "Let's start." He brought his hand down and started warming her up. He kept the smacks to a medium strength at first, bringing the blood to the surface, turning her from a milky white to a blossoming pink before he started spanking her in earnest. By this time Abby was squirming hard, trying to wiggle out of his grasp, but he held her tight and kept on laying down his hand on her bottom. He could see the shade of light pink turn to dark rose and then to blood red. He had no intension of bruising her too deep or even to break the skin, but he did want her to feel the punishment at least for the night and well into the following day. 

Abby sobbed uncontrollably, her body jerking hard with each slap of Gibbs' hand on her bottom. She had tried to kick and pull away, but his arm across her waist had kept her in place. She had managed not to try and block with her hands, but it was getting harder and harder by the second. "Please, Gibbs, I'm sorry, please, stop. I'm sorry!" She wailed hard and kicked out again. 

Gibbs let his hand come down again, this time putting all of the strength he had left in his arm and placed one last blow on each cheek before he pulled up her panties in one quick motion and turned her around so that she straddled his legs and sobbed against his chest. He kept on rubbing her back, letting her cry herself out against his chest until she finally calmed down. Only then did he push her away from him and hand her a handkerchief to blow her nose and to clean her face. He indicated to her to keep the very wet object when she tried to pass it back to him. 

"That hurt," she whispered, her voice gruff from all the crying. "Your hand is not supposed to be able to sting so much." 

"If it didn't hurt, Abby, then I was clearly doing something wrong. And I have spanked a few betas in my lifetime, Abby. I know how to use my hand." He pressed a kiss on the top of her head. 

"I'm sorry, Gibbs." 

"I know you are, and it's over. You still need to apologize to Tony, but that can wait until he's up on his feet and settled in." 

Abby lifted her chin and looked at the older man. "He's really your mate?" 

"Yip, looks like it." Gibbs helped her to her feet and steadied her as she pulled up her skirt again. He pushed a pot of something in her hands. "Use this, it will help with the sting." 

She took the container and then reached out to kiss him on the cheek. "I'm truly sorry, Gibbs. I want to get to know Tony better, if you will allow me." 

Gibbs shook his head and placed his finger on her lips when she wanted to object. "It's not up to me, Abby. It's his decision. I'm not going to tell him with whom he can socialize or even be friends with." Gibbs grinned. "I can't see him doing anything he doesn't want to do." 

Abby's hand travelled to the collar around her neck. "I've been reading up a lot on the relationship between Alphas and omegas and all of the books and stuff that I've read mentioned one thing, and I know this is like really, really personal, but I have to know if it's true, and you don't have to tell me the details, unless of course you want to, but I won't push you, I promise..." 

"Abby," Gibbs took her by her shoulders. "Breathe." 

"Yeah, sorry. It's just really strange to talk to you about this, but I need to know so that I don't put my foot in it and mess stuff up, because I really don't want to be here again. And by here, I don't mean here in your basement, or your house, but I mean, here, like in over your lap and you're tanning my backside for me." 

"Abby, you're still rambling." Gibbs tried again. 

"Okay, I'm sorry." She managed to take a deep breath and touched the collar around her neck again. "Are you going to be in _the_ lifestyle? I mean, do you know anything about it?" 

At first Gibbs frowned, but then the words lifestyle and the way Abby touched the collar around her neck, a light went off. He grinned. "Where do you think the paddle comes from, Abs?" 

"What? Oh, yes, I didn't think about that." She sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm not thinking straight. I'll leave now, need to go back to work." 

"Abby," Gibbs pulled her close. "I know this is all a bit much, but it will work out. I've also cleared it with the Director, you're off for the rest of the afternoon. Go home, take a long shower, and get some rest. I expect you to come to the hospital tomorrow at lunch." 

For a moment the Goth was speechless. "For sure, I can come tomorrow?" 

"Between myself and Ducky, we've talked so much about you, that he wants to meet you, so yes, you can come tomorrow. I will phone you if something comes up. Now, get out of here. And do not let me do this to you ever again, Abby." 

"I promise, never again, Alpha." She bared her throat out of respect and then gently moved up the stairs, her bottom complaining all the way about the abuse it suffered. 

Gibbs looked on as Abby disappeared up the stairs. He could hear her walking across the hardwood floor and exit the front door. Only when he was certain that she'd indeed left did he walk over to the steel cabinet and opened it up again. It was filled with different paddles, whips, floggers, a few bull whips and several cat o'nine tails. There were a huge number of different dildos and vibrators, anal plugs and strings of anal beads. His fingers moved across the leather cuffs and collars, as well as the different gags he had stored in there. It has been a long time since he lived 24-7 in the lifestyle, but with an omega as his mate, he knew he'd have to dust off his leathers, because being in a relationship with an omega, meant being in a BDSM relationship. It was the only way an Alpha-omega relationship could work. He couldn't wait to show the young detective just how perfect their bond could be. Gibbs locked the cabinet up again. He only had one concern - he had no idea to what extent Tony has been abused, and what influence it would have on their newly bonded relationship. 

**\-- MINE --**

**One week later**

"You ready to get out of here?" Gibbs asked as he helped the young man from the bed into the waiting wheelchair. 

"Please, if I have to look at wobbly jello one more time, I'm going to scream." Tony sighed as he lowered himself into the chair. His ribs still ached, but they would ache for a fairly long period of time and since his other injuries were well on the mend the doctors, including Ducky, gave in and said that he could go home. 

"You doing okay?" Gibbs inquired. 

"I'm fine," Tony answered and then hissed as a finger flicked his ear hard. "What was that for?" 

"What have I told you about the word _fine_?"

Tony rolled his eyes and didn't bother to answer the question. He took a deep breath, or as deep as he dared as they exited the hospital, breathing in the non-medicated air. "Love the sun, missed the sun." 

"You can sit outside on the deck and relax there." Gibbs replied as he made his way over to where his truck was parked. 

Tony shook his head. "I told you before, I'm not going to your place. I've got my own apartment. You can drop me off there." 

"And I told you, you're not going back to your apartment, you're coming home with me." Gibbs replied evenly. 

Tony placed his hands on the wheels, bringing the wheelchair to a halt. "If you do not want to take me to my apartment, then let go and I'll catch a cab." 

"And what part of you being released into my care, did you not get, DiNozzo?" 

"Listen, I get it. You saved my life, but you don't need to do this. I can get by all on my own." 

Gibbs started to bristle. "You're my mate, it's my duty to take care of you." 

"Your duty?" Tony snorted and shook his head. "I know I'm your mate, believe me, I know. I can feel the pull between us like a stretched out rubber band that's ready to snap if I even think hard enough of not going with you, but I'm not going to give up my life just because of a bond between us. I am my own man, and I may be an omega, but I will not just roll over and let you take control of everything in my life. There are things I need to sort out, so get used to it." 

At first Gibbs wanted to slap him behind the head, but the fact that he'd suffered from a head injury just a week ago took that option out of his hands. He walked around the chair and planted himself right in front of Tony. "Congratulations on feeling the bond between us, and there I thought it was only my imagination. I know you are your own man, believe _me_ , I know, but in case you've forgotten you have just been discharged from hospital. Until two days ago you were still on oxygen and you're not steady on your feet. You have told me your apartment is on the fourth floor of the building, with the elevator more out of order than actually working, so please, explain to me how, with broken ribs are you going to get up to your apartment? And then it seems like you'd forgotten about the fact that you've left a very pissed police captain and for that matter a pissed of precinct behind with no backup and now you want to go back there alone? I've got nothing against you being an omega, but I've got one a hell of a problem at you being a total idiot and that, I will not tolerate." Gibbs stepped in between Tony's legs forcing the young man to bare his neck as he dominated him with his presence. "Do you understand?" 

Tony had no choice but to nod his head. He remained tight lipped, not wanting to say he was sorry for his attitude as he still felt that he could manage on his own, although what Gibbs did tell him was correct. 

"Good, since that's settled, let's go home." He stopped the wheelchair next to the truck and helped Tony to get in before depositing the chair on the sidewalk and then getting in behind the wheel. "I know you need stuff, McGee will come by tomorrow and if you're willing, he can go and collect it at the apartment for you." 

"I get to meet your team?" Tony asked surprised. Both Gibbs and Ducky have told him numerous tales and snippets about Gibbs' team, but he has yet had the opportunity to meet any of them. Abby was supposed to come and visit one afternoon, but then he had a seizure and Gibbs decided it was better if she did not come. Something for which Tony was grateful as he felt groggy and not totally in control of himself after the episode. He sighed as he thought of the handful of medication he still had to take. What bothered him the most was the anticonvulsant medication he had to take. He knew they could kick him off the force if they decided he couldn’t do his job. And with him being an omega they could use the smallest excuse to get him dismissed. 

"It's long overdue. There's something else I want to talk to you about as well, but let's get home first." Gibbs pulled into the traffic and took care in driving within the speed limit, mindful that Tony was still on the mend. "What do you want for lunch?" 

"I'm not really hungry," Tony started off, but at the look on the other man's face he continued. "A salad would be nice, maybe turkey?" 

"Sounds good to me. I'll also stop and pick up some fresh fruit and vegetables for you to snack on during the day. Ducky will have both our skins if you don't gain some weight." 

"I've never had a problem with my weight; I don't see why he's got one." Tony grumbled stubbornly.

"When was the last time you stood in front of a mirror and truly looked at yourself? I don't need to be a doctor to see you're under weight. Your collarbone, ribs and pelvic bones are sticking out, so yes, you are underweight and you will do something about it." Gibbs barked out. His knuckles turned white as he thought back to the first time he really had a good look at Tony's body. He was aware that each active member of the police force had to undergo a physical each year, and he couldn't understand how any doctor could clear Tony for duty with such a weight deficiency problem. 

Tony shook his head, but remained silent. Gibbs would never understand why he was underweight, even if he explained to him. It all came down to what he was – an omega. Different rules applied to him. 

"Something's bothering you, what is it?" 

"Get out of my head," Tony snapped. He was tired, his body ached and he had one bad headache. He was in no mood to deal with an interfering Alpha as well. 

Gibbs immediately pulled the truck to the side of the road and parked it there. 

"What are you doing?" Tony looked around in confusion. 

"What are you feeling right now?" Gibbs asked, teeth clenched. 

"Nothing, only that you're pissing me off," Tony snapped again. 

"Feel again, concentrate. What are you feeling right now?" Gibbs asked again. He would not move until Tony admitted that he could feel him as well. 

"I don't know what you mean." He replied, not really giving a damn. 

"Don't play games with me, Tony. I know you can feel me. So what do you feel? Tell me." 

Something in Gibbs' voice made Tony take notice. The Alpha's eyes had turned to an icy blue. "Anger, I feel anger." He was surprised to realize that the anger was not directed at him. He swallowed; there was something else as well. "Concern, you're concerned about me." Tony shook his head. "You don't need to be." 

"You really don't get it, do you?" Gibbs sighed. "Yes, I am angry, not at you, but at this whole mess. But more importantly, I am concerned - about you. I can feel something is bothering you and our bond is still too new for me to tell with accuracy what it is, but I do care, Tony." 

Tony remained silent, bowing his head before he spoke up again. "As I said before, Gibbs, I feel the bond. There's not a moment that I do not feel it, even as I sleep I know where you are, if you're awake or asleep and it's difficult for me." He sighed and dragged his hand over his face. "I've been on my own for so long, I don't know what to do if you tell me you're concerned about me, or that you care about me. I don't mean to be an ass, it's just ..." He didn't have the words to finish the sentence, or the energy to say that he didn't trust the Alpha, or for that matter any Alpha. 

"It's difficult. I've always been a loner, DiNozzo. But, there's one thing I've learned from my own parents and that's communication. I've been described as a functional mute, but one thing I promised myself was that if I found a mate, I would talk. And with you - with you I want to talk." Gibbs placed his hand across Tony's neck and squeezed it softly. "We'll work it out between the two of us." He smiled. "You don't have to trust me now, Tony. That will come with time." 

Tony frowned; he didn't even want to know how Gibbs picked up on the trust issue. "It's easy for you to say." 

"No, it's not. I don't know you either, DiNozzo. Just as this is totally strange for you, it's strange for me as well. I can't and I don't expect it from you to trust me now, Tony, but I do want you to give this a chance. I'm willing to give this a chance." 

Tony realized with some guilt that he never thought that this whole thing might be strange to Gibbs as well. He has acted very selfishly. "I'm sorry, you're right. This is strange to you as well. I'm not thinking straight, I didn't mean to come across as a spoiled brat." 

"You've been through a lot, it's understandable." Gibbs started the truck again and moved back into the traffic. "Let's go home, you're making me see cross eyed with that headache you've got going on." He reached out again and squeezed Tony's thigh once before placing his hand back on the wheel. He had found out that Tony responded well to be being touched. Ducky was right in an observation he'd made; Tony was starved for touch and it was one thing he was more than happy to change. 

The rest of the trip to Gibbs' house was done in silence. Tony kept on looking around at the passing scenery. Soon they stopped in front of what he assumed to be Gibbs' house. "Nice place." He commented as Gibbs came to a complete stop. 

"Thank you." Gibbs frowned as he saw the two unfamiliar cars parked across from his home. 

"Trouble?" Tony asked as he noticed the frown. 

Gibbs shook his head. "Most likely nothing." He tried to ignore his churning gut. He got out of the truck and made his way to the passenger side. He helped Tony out and waited until the young man found his balance before they moved slowly to the house. He knew Tony must be hurting after the long trip from the hospital even if he didn't say anything. As they approached the house, the doors of both of the vehicles opened and several men clothed in suits exited and walked over to them. 

"Shit, I should've known." Tony started to pull himself from Gibbs' grip and nearly stumbled. 

"Easy," Gibbs held on to him. "Do you know them?" 

Tony snorted. "No, not them per say, but I do know of them, and I see you don't." He shook his head. He knew this was not going to end well, especially not for him. It never ended well for any omega when they became involved. 

"What do you mean?" Gibbs asked as at the same time one of the men spoke up. 

"Alpha Gibbs?" 

"Supervisory Special Agent Gibbs." He used his federal title to reply. 

"Yes, so we've heard." The man reached them and pulled his own badge from his pocket. "Special agent Dupree, omega affairs." He didn't bother to introduce the other men with him. "I'm here to take custody over this omega." 

Gibbs' hand that was still on Tony's arm as he steadied him earlier, immediately clamped down on the appendage. "Why?" He could feel Tony shiver under his touch. 

"It's of no concern to you, Alpha Gibbs. If you'll just hand the omega over, we can leave." 

"The omega's name is Tony and he's _mine_. The papers have been filed, my status has been amended." Gibbs didn't relinquish the hold he had on Tony's arm. 

"We are aware of the fact that you've claimed this omega as your mate, but certain allegations were brought against him and it's serious enough for us to take him into custody until this has been sorted out. So, Alpha Gibbs, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way, but, he will be coming with us." Dupree sneered as he held out his hand and one of the other men handed him a heavy collar with a leash attached. For the first time since they arrived, the man faced Tony. "omega, kneel and present yourself for collaring. Should you not do this; the necessary force will be used." All of the men placed their hands on the weapons holstered to their sides. 

Gibbs growled and Tony blanched at the words. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to run, but he knew they would catch him without him even getting off the lawn. He also knew they would not hesitate in hurting Gibbs, and that he couldn't allow. He turned to face Gibbs for one last time and then slowly went down on his knees. His body protested at the downward movement, but he kept the expression on his face blank. He shivered as the collar was pressed around his neck, the buckle was hard, the leather unforgiving as it was pulled tight and then fastened. He stumbled once as the leash got yanked hard and he was pulled to his feet. He didn't bother with looking back, as he was led down the pathway and into the waiting car. 

As Tony went down on his knees, Gibbs growled and moved forward. He found himself staring into the barrels of three different pistols and had to halt in his tracks. "Let him go," he trembled with anger, his wolf howling to get out and rip them apart for taking what was his.

One of the men to his side sneered. "Get over him, you'll never see him again," he took one step forward and brought his weapon down hard on the side of Gibbs' head, looking on with a smile as the Alpha crumbled unconscious at this feet. "Let's move out, we got what we came for."


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A HUGE thank you to, **Seleya889 (Hinky_Hippo)** for the AMAZING art that decorates this chapter and will also be the main banner for this fic.

[ ](http://s792.photobucket.com/user/Dont_hate_me01/media/mine%20copy_zpssnxodmxv.jpg.html)

**Chapter 4**

**NCIS - Director's Office: Two days later**

"I want answers, Tom, and I want them now!” Gibbs bellowed as he paced.

"Jethro, you need to calm down. Do I need to remind you that you have a serious concussion and that technically you should still be in hospital?” Ducky spoke up as he walked into the office and heard his friend's angry words.

"And do I need to remind you, Doctor Mallard that _my_ mate was taken away collared and leashed and now it seemed like he has vanished into thin air.” Gibbs snapped back. The fact that he couldn't feel Tony made things even more difficult to accept. It felt like the rubber band effect that Tony used to explain their bond had snapped, leaving him broken and alone.

Ducky bowed his head. "No need to remind me, my friend. I do remember. But, I still have your wellbeing to look after."

"I know, Duck.” Gibbs sighed. "ANY word yet?” He posed the question to Tom."Sec Nav will be in contact, Gibbs. Just give the man time." He held up his hand. "Yes, Gibbs, I know. It's been two days. We'll get him back."

"You're right. We will get him back, Tom. But hear this. If this political way of yours do not deliver him back by tonight, I will go in myself and the hell with anyone who tries to stop me."

"Are you threatening a federal agency, Agent Gibbs?” A voice spoke up from the door and a man walked in and closed the door behind him.

"Let me guess, you're the Director of omega affairs.” Gibbs didn't even bother to turn around as he stood at the window looking outside.

"You really need to teach your agent manners, Tom. I'm very disappointed.” The man took a seat and placed a briefcase at his feet.

Tom Morrow rose slowly to his feet. "If he didn't have manners, Emerson, you would've been lying on the floor with your throat ripped open and I would have to write up report after report. So, just tell us, where we can find DiNozzo and be gone."

"Ah, yes, the omega. Well, you see it's not that simple.” Emerson picked up the briefcase and placed it on the desk. After opening it, he removed the single file and handed it over to Morrow.

"What's this?" Tom asked as he passed it over his shoulder to Gibbs. He had a feeling his agent would want to read it first.

A small smirk appeared on the man's face. "Just something we have on the omega."

"That omega has got a name, it's Tony DiNozzo.” Gibbs had finally turned around, the thick folder clutched tight.

Emerson cocked his head and turned his attention back to Morrow, who had taken his seat again. "As I was saying, that file is what we have on the omega. Makes for quite a read. Based on what's inside and the omega's recent behavior, we've decided it's best for him to be removed from society and kept in isolation at a secure location. For his own safety, of course. We have reason to believe that he's a clear danger to himself, and therefore a clear danger to society. A comprehensive investigation will be conducted into all the claims against him. He will receive all the necessary treatment he requires, of that I can assure you."

Before anyone could react, Gibbs had moved around the table, grabbed Emerson by the shirt and pushed him hard against the door. "He has done nothing wrong. He has been victimized at that precinct, working without backup. They placed his life in danger, not himself. And he's mine. I filed the papers more than two weeks ago. You cannot take him from me."

"Well, then I am sorry to inform you, Agent Gibbs, we have not received any paperwork to indicate the omega is bonded to you. Until such paperwork is received and your claim is verified, the omega stays in our care, in isolation.” Emerson leaned forward so that he pressed against Gibbs' chest. "If you lay another hand on me, I will bring you up on assault of a federal agent, do I make myself clear."

Gibbs bared his teeth, making his intent clear; before he released his hold on the other Alpha and stepped back. "Crystal clear, Director. Now, get out of my face before we really need to clean your blood off the floor.” He only took one step back, leaving just enough room for the man to get out of the door. The moment he left the room, Gibbs turned to face the two remaining men. "DuPree said they had received the documentation."

"He's stalling for time.” Morrow reached for his phone again. It was time that Sec Nav got his ass in gear. He looked up at Gibbs while he waited for an answer. "You need to start reading that file. We need to know what's in it. Emerson wouldn't have come here if there wasn't something he could use against Tony."

Gibbs merely grunted in agreement as he took a seat at the conference table, opened up the thick file, and started to read.

**\-- MINE --**

"Abby”, Gibbs spoke up as the Goth appeared in the bullpen. "I need you to run everything we have on the John Doe murderer against this person.” He handed her a very thin file. "Go through all of the cases, leave no stone unturned."

Abby took the file and looked at the single page file. "This is the guy Tony arrested for the last murder."

"Yep, and also one of the main charges against him.” Gibbs replied and went on to explain as Abby frowned. " _Mr. Dick_ brought several charges against Tony, including police brutality and unlawful arrest. He's also claiming that he feared for his life while in the company of Tony and I quote... _'as he's an unclaimed omega, a vicious animal with no control.'_

Abby looked like she was about to commit murder. "I'll find out everything, Gibbs.” She turned around and headed back down to her lab. She had a killer to catch and a possible new friend and definite mate to Gibbs to defend.

**\-- MINE --**

**omega compound**

Emerson looked on as the omegas shuffled through to the exercise yard for their daily hour in the sun. If it was up to him, they wouldn't have seen the sun at all, but unfortunately _they_ had rights and one of those rights was the entitlement to sun and exercise. So he made sure the two were combined.

A sneer appeared on his face as the last omega in line stumbled forward, nearly falling to the ground. He didn't even need to check on whom it was, he knew it was Tony DiNozzo. The first time he read the name, he couldn't believe his eyes. The same omega was promised to him twenty years ago, but slipped through his fingers before he could lay a hand on him. This time it would not happen. He would make sure of it. Emerson turned to the guard next to him. "Why is he still able to walk?” He didn't need to name names, the guard knew to whom he was referring.

The guard shook his head and tried to keep the awe out of his voice as he answered. "He's one tough bitch. It doesn't matter how long we beat him, he takes it without making a sound. He doesn't complain when we hose him down with the fire hose, or if we string him up and leave him like that for the night. He has not once asked for anything to eat or to drink. In fact, he has not spoken one word since his arrival.” The guard looked over to where the omegas were slowly walking the perimeter. It was the only thing they were allowed to do in the hour outside.

Emerson growled and his inner wolf bristled at the defiance showed by the omega. "Bring him to me tonight; I'll personally take care of his disciplinary needs.” He had a few things he wanted to try out on the bitch. This time he would not be deprived of what was supposed to be his.

**\-- MINE --**

**Later that same night**

Emerson looked on at the omega that kneeled on the floor in front of him. Even if he would never admit it aloud, he was impressed with the young omega. He had him strung high, took a whip to his back, from his shoulder blades down to his feet and although the bitch did grunt a few times, he never yelled or begged. At this moment, his body was bloodied and he trembled hard, but still his position was perfect.

"You don't remember me, do you, bitch?” Emerson asked, although he knew he wouldn't receive an answer. "You were supposed to be mine twenty years ago, but then that stupid mother of yours did something and that useless Alpha of yours refused to hand you over. He did pay me back with interest, but it wasn't the same. I wanted you, not the money I forked out for you. But it seems like the wheel does turn and now you're back within my reach and this time you will belong to me. I'm not a man for used goods, but with you, bitch, I'm willing to make an exception."

For the first time since Tony was brought to the compound, or as it was known to the outside world, the _omega care facility_ , he lifted his head and looked straight at the Alpha in front of him. "Even if I saw you on a daily basis, I would not remember you. My bonded mate is Alpha Leroy Jethro Gibbs. You have no authority to keep me here.” His voice was a mere whisper at the lack of usage.

Emerson kept the expression on his face blank, but proceeded to backhand the kneeling man hard. He smirked as the trickle of blood appeared in the corner of the omega's mouth. "You are an omega; a bitch and nothing more. You cannot claim a bond mate and since we have received no claim for you, I know that you're telling lies." He circled Tony and spoke up again. "Unfortunately, lying is one of the traits commonly seen in unclaimed bitches. But, you don't have to worry. We have excellent programs here to help rid you of that nasty habit."

"What? More whipping? Or maybe being stretched out on a rack and tortured slowly?” Tony managed to snort, keeping the pain he was in out of his voice. "We're no longer in the dark ages. You cannot just torture a member of a pack because they are different."

"A member of a pack?” Emerson shook his head. "To be a member of a pack you need to be wolf. Pack members only consist of Alphas and betas. omegas are nothing - and they are definitely _not_ wolf.” Emerson paced again. "I still don't understand why there are things like omegas. I mean, just think about it - or not. You are omega, you cannot think. In any case, if you have two brain cells, use them for five seconds. There's no reason for you to be on earth. You cannot look after yourself, you do not reproduce - thank the gods for small mercies and you certainly cannot contribute meaningfully to the economy. In short - a waste of space.” He circled Tony again and then came to a halt in front of the kneeling man. He grabbed Tony’s hair, pulled it back so that the omega was forced to bare his throat. “A few of us are trying to get legislation through that would make it unlawful to have omega bitches, like you. All betas will have to be tested at the earliest possible opportunity to make sure the unborn pup does not carry the omega gene. Should that be the position, the pregnancy will be terminated immediately. I have to say, the support for this, is growing fast. If all goes well, the law may be passed as early as next year. So, then let me ask the question again, why the hell are you or _your_ kind even breathing?"

"Because they are the ones who keep our species sane. They make us whole.” A pissed off voice sounded at the door and as Tony turned his head he couldn't help but to crack a small smile. Gibbs stood there, weapon drawn, finger ready on the trigger, his aim to Emerson's head. As he stepped forward, other men funneled in. They filled the room, all of their weapons drawn, most of them directed at Emerson.

"How the hell did you get in here?” Emerson stuttered as he moved towards a door at the back of the room. "You have no authorization to be here."

"I would not try that, if I were you, Director.” Gibbs' voice was laced with contempt. "Or maybe you should. I don't like wasting ammo, but I'll make an exception to the rule.” He kept his weapon directed at the man. "As for how I got in here, that's easy. With this.” Gibbs pulled a paper from his pocket and held it out. "A sealed and signed warrant for your arrest, Emerson. Signed by the Chief of justice, but also sealed by the Council themselves."

Emerson blanched at the words. "I'll have your badge for this.” He sneered as Gibbs turned him around and slapped the cuffs around his wrists.

Gibbs chose not to answer the threat. Instead, he handed the stunned Alpha over to a member of the SWAT team and turned his attention back to the man that was still on his knees. He knelt in front of him and took his face in his hands. "I'm sorry it took so long.” He had to suppress his own feelings of pure rage as he took in the state of his mate. He looked over Tony's shoulder and growled at Emerson even as the man was removed from his sight. His wolf demanded to be let out, to rip apart that who dared to hurt Tony, who belonged to him, who was his.

Tony sighed, the tension in his body finally fading as he sagged against Gibbs' shoulder. "Fuck”, his voice muffled against the material. He started to shake, the two days of pure hell, finally creeping up on him.

Gibbs had no idea where to touch Tony - where to place his hands to comfort him. He didn't need to have any medical training to know that there probably wasn't a place on the omega's body that did not ache. "The medics are on their way.” He whispered the words and was surprised when he heard Tony’s muffled voice as he held him close.

"No medics. Can we please get out of here? I don't want to be here any longer.” He trembled hard.

"Look at me”, Gibbs lifted Tony's head from his shoulder and looked him in the eye. "You're hurting. I can feel it. Please, let them take a look at you."

"No”, he shook his head. "I am hurting, but I don't want anyone else to touch me, please."

Gibbs looked at Tony again and then nodded his head. "I understand, but, you're letting Ducky have a look at you the moment we get home.” He did understand Tony's reluctance to be touched by anyone else. The only reason why Gibbs himself would allow it was that his mate was hurt. The more he thought about it, the better it sounded that Ducky was the one to look Tony over and not some strange medic. His wolf was in no position to handle any more strangers around Tony, even if it was to help him.

"Deal.” Tony sighed and was grateful for the hand that steadied him when he got to his feet. He still moaned as his muscles protested at the simple movement. He nearly moaned as Gibbs removed the cuffs from his wrists and ankles and he finally could bring his tired arms to his front. He did make a soft sound of content as Gibbs helped him slip into soft sweats and a t-shirt. Tony didn't even have the energy to ask where the clothes came from; his own were removed from him when he first stepped into this place. He was dimly aware that Gibbs barked orders to different people before he was led out into the night. Tony became aware of his surroundings when they came to a halt at Gibbs' truck. "We going home?"

"We are going home." Gibbs kissed him softly and helped him into the passenger side of the truck. He didn't even look back as the team he brought started to process the scene. He would check in later, now he only wanted to get Tony, his mate home.

**\-- MINE --**

**24 Hours later: Gibbs residence**

"How can he still be sleeping, Ducky? Are you sure he's all right? Do I need to take him to the hospital?" Gibbs whispered as he paced the room.

"Jethro, he is fine.” Ducky tried to pacify his friend. “He needs the sleep. It is the best way for him to heal.” Ducky couldn’t help but to think of all the new injuries and potential scars that decorated the young omega’s body. A few places on his back needed stitches, but for the rest it was just one bruise on top of another, meaning that he looked like a chameleon on a packet of M&M’s, but other than that he was more concerned about his emotional state than his physical wellbeing. He took Gibbs by the arm and pulled him to the door. “Now, let us give him some peace to rest. You still need to tell me how you got him out of there.”

Gibbs looked once again over his shoulder before he let himself be guided out of the bedroom, down the stairs and into the kitchen. He took a seat as he Ducky busied himself with making tea. He knew he wouldn’t get a cup of coffee; Ducky already frowned at him earlier when he emptied the umpteenth pot for the day.

“Well, start talking.” Ducky prodded again as he placed the cup of tea in front of the Alpha and took his own.

“Not much to tell, Duck. Things worked out better than what I thought they would.” He didn’t add that if it didn’t, Tony would still found himself here at his home, in his bed, but he would’ve used force to get him out.

“Then make it worth my while, you know I am a man who love my stories.” Ducky took a sip of his tea and leaned back ready to hear how the rescue happened.

“After Emerson left, Tom called Sec Nav. The man was extremely upset that the mate to one of his top agents - his words, not mine - was being kept at the Care Facility - he was previously unaware of this fact. He placed a few calls to the council and it became known that Emerson and the Council Chief do not see eye to eye, because the Chief's only son is also an omega. Emerson tried to forcefully bond with him, stating that he was a danger to himself and society after the omega refused to fall for his advances." Gibbs grinned. "Seems like the Council Chief is more than willing to let Emerson be castrated; something that has not been done in over a millennium according to him."

Ducky chuckled. "What about the allegations in Anthony's file?"

Gibbs sighed and shook his head. "That is a bit more complicated. Not even the council was willing to overlook all of the allegations against Tony. They did however agree to have a formal inquiry, looking into everything before any charges were made against him."

"Something else is bothering you. What else did they have to say?” Ducky stood up to make another cup of tea for them.

"He's been placed on suspension without pay. He may not enter the city limits of Baltimore or have any contact with anyone from the precinct, or any potential witnesses in this investigation. He was also placed under my direct protection."

"So, basically I'm a prisoner in your home, homeless and with no income.” Tony's voice sounded from the stairs as he slowly made his way down the last few steps. His body ached all over, but he couldn’t let the pain sound in his voice. He was too angry in any case to care about any pain he might be feeling.

Gibbs wanted to object, to tell the other man that he was incorrect, but it wouldn’t have been the truth. Tony had summed up his situation perfectly in one sentence. He could sense the rage coming off the man as he entered the kitchen. “We will fix this, DiNoz.”

Tony snorted. “How, Gibbs? By magic? Because I have to tell you, I don’t believe in magic, or miracles or any other spectacular deed of good fortune.” He shook his head. “Baltimore had more than enough time to build up a solid case against me. Each time I went out to a scene alone, or made an arrest on my own, I was placing myself and members of the public around me in danger. Every time I got injured or even sustained a paper cut I showed that I was incapable of taking care of myself and nothing, Gibbs, nothing that you say will change that.” He gently lowered himself on the chair, his hands shook with the effort of that action.

“You are no longer alone in this, Anthony. You have got all of us in your corner, fighting for you.” Ducky said softly.

Tony shook his head. “You don’t understand, Ducky. None of you understands. I may have you in my corner and that’s good. We may even get the charges dropped against me, but I will never be allowed to be myself. Already I am no longer myself. There’s a bond between you and me, Gibbs. A bond the Council will use to say that it shows I cannot function on my own, because if that was the case then there shouldn’t have been a bond between us. That’s the main reason why omegas are despised – thought of as weak, because according to society we cannot function without an Alpha. Without an Alpha we go feral and it’s better to put us down like common dogs than let us run free.”

“Anthony DiNozzo, that is not true.” Ducky exclaimed with outrage. “No omega has ever been put down like a common dog as you put it.”

Gibbs felt the moment Tony gave up and he knew Ducky made a grave mistake. He took a step closer to his mate when Tony spoke up again. His voice deprived of any emotion. “And the fact that the Senate and Upper Council was petitioned for legislation to abort all pups with the omega mark, Doctor Mallard? What do you call that?” He didn’t give Ducky a chance to respond and pushed pass Gibbs when the Alpha wanted to touch him. He had nothing left inside of him. He had already made up his mind to agree to all charges against him. He was even considering attacking the Council. _That_ , still carried the death penalty. Emerson was right when he asked that final question. Tony also had no idea why _his_ kind was still breathing. He did not see the utter shock on Gibbs’ face at the allegation, nor did he saw the lack of shock on Ducky’s face. If he looked back, he would’ve seen Gibbs’ eyes flash with rage as his mate saw that Ducky was not surprised by what he had revealed. Gibbs was ready to rip Ducky apart if he received no reasonable explanation from the ME.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Sexual abuse/rape of a minor mentioned**

Gibbs looked on at his mate lying on the bed. After Tony had dropped the bomb on possible legislation and went back up the stairs, he had turned to Ducky and for the first time since they became friends they had a very intense argument. A better description would be to call it a shouting match. In the end, Ducky had left and Gibbs paced the ground floor. He still couldn’t believe that Ducky knew about the possible legislation. It didn’t matter that Ducky was of the opinion that it would never go through, what mattered was the fact that his friend knew about the existence of such possible legislation and said nothing about it.

“I know you’re awake, Tony.” He spoke up as he stepped deeper into the room. “I know you don’t want to talk to me, or to anyone else for that matter, but you have to believe me, I did not know.”

Tony sighed and carefully rolled over to face his Alpha. “The first time my father took notice of me was after my mother died, when he explained Regulation #1B to me. He did so as he shoved his cock down my throat telling me to suck it, as this would be the way things would be for the next four years until he could finally be rid of me. He made sure to use me in every possible way and kept on repeating to me that the only reason why I was still breathing was because it was at his will. I realized there what it meant to be an omega and I accepted that if I wanted to remain alive I could only rely on myself. It became my motto and one that I had to keep in mind every second of every day. Every time a new regulation came into operation, I held my breath, not for the chance that things finally might be turned right and we’d be accepted as part of general society, but for the other shoe to drop and yesterday when Emerson told me about that legislation, I knew. The shoe finally dropped. Within a few years all omegas would be eradicated and you’ll live in a perfect society, consisting out of Alphas and betas only.”

Gibbs closed the distance between the bed and his mate and pulled Tony into his embrace. “In my home, I grew up thinking that everyone was the same. When someone talked about Alphas and betas, I thought they were just names, until one day an omega came to our store and I was faced with reality for the first time in my life. I will not tell you what happened, only to say that I still have nightmares from that. That night my father and mother sat me down and for the first time told me what the world really was about. I was five years old. They believed that they could raise me to look at everyone in the same manner and even though things changed that day for me forever, they made me promise them one thing that I would keep on looking at those around me as one species and nothing more.” He took a deep breath. “Yes, you are an omega, and yes, I am an Alpha, but we’ve got something special between us, something that makes me realize that while my parents were right in wanting to make me see no difference between all of us, that they were wrong, that there is a difference. A difference that our ancestors cherished. Pack consists of Alphas, betas _and_ omegas. The one cannot exist without the other. If we were all the same, we wouldn’t have been able to exist. We would’ve been extinct for many years. I will not let them take away your identity, your voice. I know our bond is still very new, and you are yet to trust me completely, but I will do everything in my power to get you cleared of all charges. It is time that the council see just how strong omegas really are.”

Tony couldn’t help but to hear the conviction of truth Gibbs had in his own words. He knew he would be a fool not to trust the Alpha to help him. The bond pulsed between them as he leaned into the embrace and just let the Alpha’s belief wash over him. The hope he’d lost earlier slowly disappeared as a new feeling of hope seeped into him and this time he reached out and held on to it. He had no other choice but to reach out and hope.

**\-- MINE --**

“Abby, what do you have?” Gibbs sighed as the Goth refused to answer him, her attention focused on the third in the room. “Abby,” he repeated her name with more force and looked on with satisfaction as she blushed when she realized what she was doing.

“Sorry, Gibbs.” She looked at the sleeping man again. “He’s gorgeous. A bit on the thin side, but still sexy as hell.” She grinned. “I can understand why you fell for him, Boss.”

“I didn’t fall for him, Abby. He’s my mate and stop staring at him. You know it’s rude, or do you want to come and visit me in my basement again.” 

Gibbs’ words sobered Abby up. “No, Gibbs.” Her hand travelled to her backside, rubbing it softly. “Sorry, again.” She held out a folder to the Alpha and as soon as he took it from her hands, she started to talk. “There’s definitely something hinky going on, Gibbs. I did as you asked and started to work on any connection between all of our dead unknown omegas and our dead Petty Officer, since McGee’s search for a connection between the dead unknown omegas delivered nothing. Unfortunately, I came up with nothing as well. I also couldn’t find any link between our dead Petty Officer and Shane Knox, the suspect Detective DiNozzo apprehended. Speaking of our suspect, he is now officially our main suspect as the final blood work came through. The blood found on his clothes, indeed matched the blood of the Baltimore murder. I’ve already informed McGee and he and Kate went to look for him as we now have reason to link him to our homicide.”

Gibbs frowned. He was unaware of any possible link between their dead Petty Officer and Shane Knox.

Abby saw the frown and quickly explained. “Your mate is a genius, Gibbs. When he booked Knox, he even took samples of the threads of his clothes he was wearing. We found several fibers on our Petty Officer, I did the comparison and it’s a match, Gibbs. So, we don’t have to wait for Baltimore, he’s now an active suspect in an NCIS murder investigation and we can go and pick him up when we find him.”

Gibbs couldn’t help but to look at his mate sleeping on the couch and be impressed. He had a real knack for detective work; it would be an honor to work with him, and an asset to NCIS. “Let McGee keep me up to date.” He looked at the file in his hands. “What’s the hinky part, Abby?”

Abby smiled. “Shane Knox is not Shane Knox. I started digging deeper and found something peculiar. Mr. Knox has a driver’s license. He graduated from high school and he has a social security number. He has a bank account with the minimum amount in it. No investments and some debts. He also has one misdemeanor. On the surface, all looks in order until I dug deeper. His profile was created like when I create one for you when you go undercover, but with one difference. Every aspect of his life was created on the same date. From the day his driver’s license was issued, including the time the misdemeanor occurred. Whoever created this profile, Gibbs, didn’t think that anyone would snoop around like I did. Shane Knox is a fake, Gibbs.”

“When was this cover created, Abs?” Gibbs asked as he took a seat to look through what she’d gathered.

“In the middle of 1998 as far as I can gather, Gibbs. I’m still looking and will keep you up to date.”

“What about his fingerprints?” Tony’s voice sounded to the side.

Abby turned and looked at the man now seated on the couch, wide awake. She couldn’t help but to take a liking to him immediately. There was just something about him that screamed hugged me and she wanted to do nothing more than just that, but Gibbs had warned her so instead she clamped her hands behind her back.

“You feeling okay?” Gibbs inquired as he moved closer to his mate.

Tony nodded his head and focused on Abby. “Could you check his fingerprints against your database?”

Abby nodded her head. “That’s the other hinky part. He’s not in one of the databases we have access to.” She looked over to Gibbs. “I’m still running it through Interpol, but it’s yet to turn up a match.”

“Good, keep on working it. I know you’ll find us something, Abs.”

Abby looked at Gibbs and then at Tony. She wanted to say something, but suddenly she had no idea how to do it. She didn’t want to invoke Gibbs’ anger and she didn't want to show any disrespect towards the omega.

“Spit it out, Abby.” Gibbs growled, with a warning clear in his voice.

“I don’t know where to start.” Suddenly she was nervous.

“I normally start at the beginning.” Tony ventured to speak up. Something about the strangely clothed woman intrigued him and called out to him.

Tony’s words brought a smile to her face. “You’ve got the greenest eyes, I’ve ever seen.” She babbled and then blushed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so forward, but I’m nervous and when I’m nervous, I start to babble and I don’t know when to stop, like now. You see, I’m babbling right now.”

“You always been a Goth?” Tony asked quietly.

“Since my teenage years, so it’s been a while. I suppose that I should grow up, but I’m happy with who I am at the moment.”

Tony smiled. “Isn’t that the most important thing, to be happy with who you are?”

Abby cocked her head. “You’re right. It is the most important thing.” She moved closer to the couch and then went to her knees. “I owe you an apology, mate of Alpha Gibbs. Will you hear me?” Tony frowned, his gaze met Gibbs’ eye.

Gibbs gave a small nod of his head. “You don’t have to accept her apology, Tony, just remember that.” He was surprised that Abby chose this moment to tender her apology.

“I don't know why you owe me an apology, but I am willing to hear you, Abby?” He stumbled over her name, not sure if he may call her by the name.

“Yes, Abby. You may call me Abby.” She stayed on her knees.

“I'm Tony.” He smiled gently.

“Thank you, Tony, although I do think you’ll change your mind when you heard what I have done.” She shook her head. “That's not the way to start an apology. Please, let me do this right.”

Tony frowned again, but still nodded his head.

“Thank you.” Abby took a deep breath. “I, Abigail Sciuto do hereby formally apologize to, Tony DiNozzo, omega and bond mate to Alpha Gibbs. I have judged you without knowing you. I have listened to rumors that held no water and a formed a biased opinion. In my ignorance of things, I had no knowledge over, I harmed you and for that, I am truly sorry. I can only ask for forgiveness.”

“You judged me because I am an omega?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” He had to know.

“Because I was stupid and ignorant.” Abby lifted her head. “I went to a forensic workshop and heard some rumors about you. I chose to believe them because I believed in what I was taught about omegas.”

“That we’re useless, unruly, a danger to ourselves and to others. That we’re a liability and weak.” He couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice.

Abby bowed her head in shame. “Yes,” her answer a mere whisper.

“If that is what you believe, then why are you apologizing?”

“Because I realized that my ignorance is not only hurting you and all other omegas, but me as well. How can I be pack if I discriminate against someone different from me? Ducky suggested that I go and read up on the Regulations and I did. It made me go and read up on omega history and I concluded that even though matters have improved for omegas, discrimination still takes place and that needs to be changed. I need to change.”

Tony reached out and pulled her to the couch. “I may not know you, Abigail Sciuto, but I can hear your apology to be sincere, and I accept.”

Abby squealed and threw herself around Tony’s frame. She froze the instant Tony grunted out in pain and Gibbs growled right next to her. She didn’t even hear the Alpha move from where he was on the other side of the couch, to right next to her. “Shit,” she whispered. She slowly withdrew until she was completely off the couch, standing next to it. She kept her gaze lowered, not wanting to see the hurt in the omega’s eyes or the anger in the Alpha’s eyes.

“Back away, Abby, even further.” Gibbs growled as he saw the beta coming to a halt only a few steps away from the couch. He had to mentally push his wolf down as the animal only wanted to do one thing and that was to rip Abby apart from hurting his mate. And she did hurt him. Even if Tony only hissed, he felt the real pain through their bond and that made him snap.

Tony shook his head. “It’s not necessary, Abby.” He was breathing hard, but still managed to crack a smile.

Gibbs growled again, but this time at his mate.

The sound made Tony snap. “Don't you dare growl at me, Gibbs. I will not stand for it. Yes, Abby was a bit too forceful in her hug, and yes, it did hurt, but it's nothing for you to go all Neanderthal over. She has moved away. You can see she's not a danger to me, so stop it.”

Abby could only stare. Never before had she witnessed someone taking Gibbs on like this and still live to tell the day. “Ducky's right. He is going to be a handful.” She slapped her hand over her mouth when she realized she said the words out loud. “Sorry,” she apologized, her voice muffled as she kept her hand over her mouth.

Gibbs was too stunned to say a word. Instead, he took the seat next to his mate and let his eyes run over Tony's body. He knew there were no visible injuries, but his wolf demanded him to make sure. “You're mine, Tony.” He did manage not to growl too hard.

“Yes, we've established that before.” Tony slowly got to his feet and pushed Gibbs' hand away as the Alpha tried to help him up. He closed the distance between himself and the still frightened beta. “A bit more careful next time, Abby. I'm a little bruised.”

Abby swiped the tears away and nodded her head. “Will you believe me if I told you I'm sorry?” She hiccupped once.

“I would.” Tony stretched out his arms and beckoned her to him. “I'm not used to others hugging me, but I would love to get a hug from you, Abby.”

Abby slowly stepped forward into his arms and hugged him close. She made sure that she did not hurt him in any way and when she felt him withdraw, she stepped away immediately.

“Thank you for the hug, Tony.” She turned to face Gibbs for the first time. She bared her neck. “Please forgive me, Alpha. I didn't mean to hurt what belongs to your heart.”

“Seems like there's nothing to forgive, Abby. All that I can ask is that you please be careful, at least until he's healed.” Gibbs held open his own arms and sighed as Abby hugged him tight. She held a special place in his heart and knew that even if she hadn't said anything, all of this was hard on her as well.

“I have a feeling if I tried to promise again, everything will just fall apart. Will it be all right if I say I will try?”

Gibbs smiled and nodded his head. “I've got no problem with you trying, Abby.”

“I don't have a problem either.” Tony replied.

“Good.” Abby looked at her watch. “I need to get going. I'll keep you up to date, Boss.” She placed a kiss on Gibbs' cheek and then made her way out of the house, leaving the bonded pair behind.

Tony waited until Abby drove off before he spoke up again. “You always so possessive?”

Gibbs grinned. “Only of that which belongs to my heart, and you do.” He turned serious. “I will try and work on this, Tony, but there's something you need to remember - I am still an Alpha, to be more exact - _your_ Alpha. When we complete our bonding rituals, I will even be more possessive. That is not going to change.”

“I understand, but once again, Gibbs, just because I'm an omega, does not mean I can't take care of myself.” Tony leaned against the other man, his wolf wanting the contact badly. “May I share something with you?” He almost asked shyly.

“Always.”

“I know this is hard on you too, and we need the time to get to know one another and you've got all this shit of mine to deal with, but I can't wait to spend time with you in our natural form. To run on all fours and to just be ourselves.”

Gibbs knew the feeling. Although packs always run together, bonded mates were prohibited from running as wolves, until the last bonding rituals had been completed. Any bonding ritual between an Alpha and omega normally happened within the first month of the bond being realized, but with all that was going on, both knew that their rituals would not take place for quite a while. It was hard for their wolves to comprehend, but there was no other way.

“I promise you, that when it's time to run, we'll run free for hours on end.” Gibbs pulled his mate close and hoped that the contact they did share would satisfy the hunger for touch from their wolves.

**\-- MINE --**

**Two days later**

Tony looked on as the other two betas in Gibbs' team worked their magic. He was surprised this morning when Gibbs told him that he needed to go into work and he was more than welcome to come with. He inquired about the limitations placed on him by the Council and Gibbs barked out that Tony would still be under his eyes the whole time. Tony could feel that Gibbs was not happy about the fact that Tony was limited on what he could or could not do. It made him realize that Gibbs really did want what was best for him. Tony immediately agreed and found himself in the middle of the bullpen looking at how Gibbs ruled his team on a daily basis. He looked up at the large screen when an imaged appeared.

“Its John Doe 12/1999,” Tony spoke up first and halted when he noticed the team looking at him. His eyes found Gibbs' gaze before he continued. “Just when I started out in Baltimore I had a homicide case where the victim was shot executioner style. The body was also sexually assaulted so I started a search to see if there were any other similar murders. There were indeed a few, but _that_ one stood out. I solved my case, but John Doe haunted me for a very long time. Once or twice I managed to dig up a lead, but nothing came from it.” He didn't add that the moment the Washington Police found out that they were dealing with an omega detective they stopped being helpful and just shut him out.

Gibbs could feel that Tony was keeping something from them, but he knew now was not the time to bring it up. Instead, he turned towards the screen. “We believe this John Doe to be the first murder in a string of murders of omegas that includes your case in Baltimore.”

Tony frowned. “My murder vic was an omega?”

Gibbs sighed. He only now realized just how much Tony had missed while he had to deal with catching a serial killer, being in hospital for almost two weeks and then being kept at the compound. “Bloodwork came back, he was an omega and just like our first John Doe and nine other cases, he had his birthmark removed.”

“So, the mutilation was to cover up that fact.” Tony immediately noticed the one thing that made them all wonder.

“That's the conclusion we reached as well.” Abby spoke up as she stepped into the bullpen. She had a packet of snacks in her hands that she handed over to Tony. “Eat,” she grinned and then went on to explain not even waiting for Gibbs to give her the go-ahead, but knowing that Tony needed to be placed in the loop of things as well. “Ten cases in total over a period of two years.” She used the remote to flick through the different images until all ten victims pictures decorated the screen. “No one found the link until we started looking into similarities of cases which involved unidentified omega bodies with birthmarks removed.” She flicked the remote again and the screen went blank. “None of the vics were killed in the same manner, that's another reason why no one ever picked up on the possible connection.”

Tony stared at the blank screen. “Where were they found?”

Gibbs nodded to McGee and the team looked on as the young agent called up a map and indicated where each victim was found. “I've used different algorithms, but found no correlation between any of the victims on where they might be from, or why they were dumped in each specific location.” McGee explained. “They were not dumped near any specific land mass, body of water or even an interstate or major road. I even collected data on soil types, but that didn't match either.”

“The information we obtained from the different medical reports was too scant to tell us much about the vics themselves. Since they were all John Does we had no information to use to tell us if they were all in the same economic class, if they performed the same tasks or even liked the same colors.” The profiler of the group, Caitlin Todd, spoke up.

A smile appeared on Tony's face and he grinned. “I might have an idea, Gibbs.” He turned to McGee. “Can you pull up everything you have on your dead Petty Officer?”

“Sure,” McGee hit a few key strokes and the required information appeared on screen.

They looked on as Tony stepped up to the screen and slowly started to read everything. A few times he shook his head and mumbled to himself. Finally, he turned back to the group that was waiting patiently for him. “Well, I know who didn't kill him.” He said with a cheeky grin.

McGee frowned. “Who didn't kill him?”

Tony's grin got bigger. “His wife, slash girlfriend, didn't kill him.” He shrugged his shoulders as they all stared at him, blank expressions on their faces. “What, have you not realized it before? It's always the wife or the girlfriend who's responsible.”

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs barked out, but through their bond, he made sure the young omega knew he wasn't angry with him. A bit impatient, but not angry.

“Sorry, Gibbs.” Tony smiled again and pointed to the photo of the dead marine. “Your Petty Officer was gay.”

“What? How do you know that?” The group asked the question.

“Mainly because of this.” Tony indicated to several line items on the credit card statement.

“He bought books online, what of it?” Abby asked confused.

Tony walked to Gibbs' workstation and nodded his head in the direction of the computer, “May, I?”

Gibbs only grunted out a response and watched what his mate was doing.

Tony let his fingers run over the keyboard. It felt strange to sit behind a desk and have the opportunity to work for a change. He typed in the name of the online book place and a boring looking webpage appeared. It directed the viewer to different categories of books and he clicked on random icons before he was halted by an error code.

“Now what?” Gibbs asked, his patience starting to run out fast.

Tony grinned and typed in the book ordered from the line item that appeared on the card statement.

“Holy crap!” Abby exclaimed, and Kate added her own little sound.

“That's no book.” McGee managed not to gape. “Is that our dead Petty Officer?”

“You think, McGee?” Gibbs grabbed the remote and turned the screen dark. He could feel his own cock stirring, not only because of what he'd seen on the screen, but the image that appeared in his head with having Tony in that particular position. He must've thought harder about than he imagined, because by the blush on Tony's face his mate got that picture clearly in his mind as well.

“How did you know?” Abby asked.

Tony cleared his throat before he answered. “Found some similar sites like that before. By the description in the statement it just seemed off. When you order a book online or anything like that with your credit card, normally the name of the company or store appears on the statement. But not with these. The owners of these websites try to keep things out of sight, and what better way than to hide them by putting them in plain sight. Anyone who'd searched the website would also found the broken link like I did and just leave it at that, but those who know what to look for would know what to do and get access to their products.”

“But why did he make a purchase on himself?” Gibbs looked at the amount charged.

“Most of these sites are run by popularity. The more hits you get, the better you are liked, the more business you make. Some of these guys spend extra money in order to make sure they receive extra money. They also only cater to Alpha males.”

Gibbs had moved silently in behind his mate and pressed hard into him. Even though he managed to whisper, the growl remained in his voice. “You ever do something like that, DiNozzo?”

Tony's pulse spiked at the surge of jealously that seeped through their bond. “No, but I did have a few offers.”

“Glad you didn't do it, Tony. Would've made me very cranky.” Gibbs whispered hard as he pushed just that little bit forward, wanting Tony to feel his cock hard against the dip between his ass cheeks.

Tony had to bite the inside of his mouth not to whimper. He could smell the pheromones released by Gibbs. “Think you want to tone it down a bit, Gibbs. You're making the natives restless.” Tony indicated to where Gibbs' team was all standing looking ready to bolt.

Gibbs snickered. “As long as they realize that you belong to me, they can be restless. It will keep them on their toes.”

Tony stepped forward, breaking the physical connection they shared. “You still have a serial killer to catch.”

“We, Tony. We still have a serial killer to catch.” Gibbs corrected the man next to him. “You've given us more to work with than we have had in almost three weeks. I'm more than willing to share this collar with you.”

“Only if I still have a job left, Gibbs. Remember, I'm suspended.” Tony tried to keep the hurt out of his voice.

“Their loss, my gain.” Gibbs pushed Tony closer to the screen. “Okay, people, what else?”

The team started to throw ideas around, going over previously ignored pieces of information, throwing things out they thought to be important before. It was only when Tony's stomach growled out loud that Gibbs realized how late the hour was. They had worked through lunch and now the sun started to set on the horizon. It was time to head home, give everyone a break and come back tomorrow. “Well done, people. Let's call it a night. Be back here at 0800.” Gibbs dismissed the team and picked up his own 'go bag' from the floor to head home. “You ready?” He asked his mate as the other man stayed behind the computer, still working hard.

“Sure,” Tony logged off and switched the screen off after he powered down the machine. He stood up at the same moment Gibbs stepped into his personal space. It brought the two men chest to chest.

Gibbs brought his hand up and stroked Tony's cheek. His cock stirred as Tony leaned into the simple gesture. “You did good today.”

“You mean it?”

“You'll learn that I always mean what I say, Tony.” Gibbs leaned in further and kissed his mate soundly.

Tony melted against his Alpha. Never before had he experienced anything like this. Kisses were something his First Alpha never shared, and when he was used by other Alphas, those kisses were always rough and used to show that he was the bottom and that they dominated him.

Gibbs had to move away as the lack of oxygen started to make him dizzy. “Later,” he sighed in contentment as he moved to the side to let his mate pass so that he could collect his sidearm from the desk. He holstered it quickly and then faced his mate again. “Let's get out of here. I need to feed you and then I need to kiss you some more.”

“Can we forget about the food and just go on to the kissing part?” Tony joked even as his stomach objected loudly to the idea.

“Food first, Ducky would have my skin if I didn't feed you.” Gibbs paled at the mention of his best friend's name. He had not spoken to the man in the two days since the doctor stormed out of the house. He had seen him at work, but Ducky made it clear that he didn't want to talk. And if Gibbs had to be honest with himself, he didn't want to talk to Ducky either. Not until the man came up with a good enough explanation on why he kept that information to himself.

“You need to talk to him, Gibbs. He's your friend.”

Gibbs shook his head, angry for letting his feelings simmer through the bond. “Not until he explains himself.” He pulled on Tony's hand, wanting the man to follow him. “Let's get you some pizza; I can feel you've been craving it for a while now.”

Tony remained silent. He didn't want to be the cause of a rift between two longtime friends. If things didn't clear up, he'd have to take matters in his own hands.

**\-- MINE --**

Ducky remained seated in the darkened home as he saw Jethro park his truck and got out with a laughing Tony at his side. The older beta couldn't help but to marvel at the change that came over his friend the moment the omega appeared in his life. It was as if Tony had found Jethro's switch and had turned it on. For the first time since Ducky had known Gibbs, the Alpha came to life. He saw the moment both men realized that someone was in the house. Both reached for their firearms at the same time. Through the lace curtain Ducky saw the moment Tony realized he was unarmed and Gibbs none so gently pushed the bigger man behind him. Although he couldn't hear, he was sure Tony had whispered something, but the stare Gibbs had thrown over his shoulder made the omega back down immediately. Ducky waited until Gibbs had opened the front door and stepped into the small hallway before he spoke up. “It's only, me, Jethro.”

Gibbs reached for the light switch and flicked it on. “What the hell, Duck?”

Tony could feel the tension rising in the room. He knew it was time the two friends talked. He lifted the pizza box and took a good sniff. “I'll take this through to the kitchen.” He didn't wait for a response, but made his way through the house and then disappeared out of sight.

“Since when do you sit and wait in darkened houses, Duck? I could've shot you.” Gibbs placed his firearm on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch across from his friend.

“If you did shoot me, Jethro it would have been because I deserved it.” Ducky stopped Gibbs from speaking up by talking on. “I have been a proper fool, my friend. I should have told you about what I knew a long time ago. I just thought that it was crazy talk. That nothing would come from it. But, it seemed I was wrong, so completely wrong.” Ducky picked up a file next to him and handed it over to the Alpha across from him. “You will find more than enough information in there about the government's covert plans to eradicate omega wolves permanently from society; from all packs. And if I could venture a guess, I would say your dead omegas had something to do with all of this as well. That is also the reason why you could not find the man Shane Knox in any database. He was not meant to be found.”

Gibbs stared at the file in his hand and then at his friend before he turned his attention to his mate who stood in the hallway. He could see the hurt in Tony's eyes, caused by Ducky's words. He beckoned him over and moved so that Tony could sit down next to him. He made sure Tony was right next to his side before he handed him the file. “You've got the right to know, let's see what's in this.” They read the file in silence, both men blanched at what they found inside. Gibbs could feel the omega trembling hard against them, but before he could ask if he was all right, Tony sprung up and raced to the ground floor bathroom. He didn't even have the time to close the door before hard retching sounds filled the otherwise silent home.

It was worse than Gibbs ever thought it could be and for the first time in his life, he had no idea if he'd be able to fix this.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN 1: Wolves and therefore _'people'_ live longer and get much older. It would therefore not be strange for a meeting to take place almost forty years before Tony was born between two characters essential to this fic.

**Chapter 6**

“You all right?” Gibbs asked as he passed Tony a cup of water to rinse and spit.

Tony snorted, but nodded his head. “Just caught me by surprise. I always knew what he thought about me, thought about omegas, but what we read in that file, that is pretty much icing on the cake I would say.”

“That's putting it mildly.” Gibbs agreed. “You know they are going to want to silence us. It’s too big of a political nightmare to keep under wraps.”

“I know, but I have a feeling that we need to find Knox, or whoever the hell he might be. He’s the one card we have that we can use, Gibbs.” Tony filled the cup with clean water and gulped it down. “We need to talk to Ducky some more. You willing to do that?”

“We don’t have a choice, do we?” Gibbs led Tony back to the living room where Ducky was waiting.

“I never meant to cause you such pain, Anthony. Believe me if I tell you, I never wanted anything to do with this.” Ducky started explaining the minute the two sat down.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning, Ducky?” Tony gently prompted.

Ducky sighed, nodded his head and started his story. “Remember, I’m now referring to a period of about seventy years ago. Just after I had left England and settled here in America, a man named Jefferson approached me. Alex Jefferson was an Alpha male in a long lineage of Alphas and he was very traditional. He still believed that omegas should be mated off as early as possible, and couldn’t understand why anyone would want to send an omega to school to be educated. He considered them to be a liability and weak, and yet he had not one cruel intention towards omegas. He started a society, mostly consisting of Alphas and, by special invitation, betas. He extended a personal invitation to me to join his society. Mind you, I was still very young, and since I knew very few people here, I accepted the invitation. He explained to me that he wanted to create a place where omegas could gather and be taken care of until they were mated. If they were not mated, they could still stay there though not mingle with the rest of the pack so as not to taint them. It sounded surreal and in a manner, I could see the value of such a place so I started to attend the meetings. I was accepted into the society and interacted with them daily. I was part of that society for many years.” 

Ducky took a deep breath. “Like in every society or party, you get different views and it was the same with this society. About thirty-five years ago, there was one group of Alphas in the society began to have more radical views on omegas. To say they despised omegas would be putting it mildly and they wanted nothing more than to rid the earth of them. I became involved with them in a debating manner, not sharing the views they had on omegas at all. One man in particular made it his personal goal to try to convert me to their way of seeing things.” He looked up and met Tony's gaze. “From your reaction to what you have read, I gathered you know to whom I am referring?”

Tony nodded his head. “My father. Anthony DiNozzo Senior.” He bowed his head. “Now I know why he reacted so badly towards me. Even years before my birth he wanted to get rid of omegas permanently. Then he got slammed with the biggest surprise of his life. His own son was an omega.” Tony sighed. “I kind of feel sorry for him.” The slap to the back of his head came out of nowhere. “Fuck, what the hell was that for?”

“Don’t you ever feel sorry for that bastard. He doesn't deserve it.” Gibbs seethed with anger.

Tony looked at his mate for a long time before he finally nodded and rubbed the back of his head again. “Seems like I needed that.” He turned back to face Ducky. “What happened next?”

Ducky hesitated before he continued. “Our debates became fierce, sometimes I was scared that it might become physical, but it never did. Your father was of the opinion that omegas could be changed. He was talking about things like electroshock therapy on pups, brainwashing and other radical forms of treatment. He had enough money to start up facilities to do just that and although I know the government never agreed to that sort of treatment, I have a feeling he continued with it. He would be gone for months at a time, suddenly reappearing, talking about things looking up and sometimes when he came by he would be like a bear with a sore tooth. Then he changed, and he started talking about altering DNA. This time he sought me out, asked my opinion on it and I told him it would not work. That you cannot fiddle with the core of someone’s being. That it was not possible. I told him that he must remember that Alphas carried the omega gene and were responsible for reproducing omegas. If he wanted to alter DNA, he would have to alter his own DNA as he was an Alpha.”

“Of course, he did not believe me for one moment. He stated vehemently that being an Alpha meant being perfect and that the omega gene had to come from the beta. He did not even want to look at any research I showed him that proved it over and over.” Ducky stood up and started to pace the room. “Then one day he came in.” Something had changed in him. He was more collected, talked more sense and he seemed less radical. I later on found out that his beta was pregnant and I believed that the prospect of him becoming a Sire pacified him, made him more aware of his responsibilities as a good Alpha and father. It was then that I retired from the society as it became clear that I did not share most of their views anymore. Unlike in the past, where we could debate our different opinions hours at end, things became more hostile and I resigned as I started to fear for my life.”

Ducky shook his head. “I had made some good friends while there and some months later I was back at the society house at special invitation when DiNozzo Senior came in drunk as a skunk. He’d managed to destroy almost half of the place before he was finally brought under control. The society had enough of his drunken tantrums and he was banned. Even though I was no longer a member of the club I was called as a witness and I was there the day he when he was barred. When he turned to leave, he reached into his briefcase and handed me _that_ file. He sneered and told me to come and meet him when I was done reading that. I never did read it until now. And I have a feeling that our dead Petty Officer and our unidentified omegas were all part of his research to finally get rid of omegas.” Ducky sighed tiredly.

“From the information in there it seems like he’s been conducting experiments on omegas for a very long time. Everything you talked about is mentioned in there.” Tony shivered. “I could’ve done without the images he placed in there.”

Gibbs was just as upset. Even though the images depicted were at least thirty years old it still showed young pups submitted to different medical procedures, pages of notes on their progress after each procedure and prognosis followed each photo, but each one had one red inked stamp at the end - **deceased**. The oldest of the pups in the photos was about four years of age. It was the photos that made Tony lose his dinner. “The list of names at the end - is that what we think it is?”

Ducky nodded his head. “I recognized them. Those are the names of the wolves in the faction within the society that were on board with DiNozzo Senior’s way of thinking. You’ve read them; you know they are all from old money. Most of them are still involved in politics, some as high as in the Senate and in the Council itself.”

“But why are the bodies getting dumped now and why so publicly?” Gibbs mused.

Tony stood up and started to pace the room himself. “I’m not sure what I’m about to say will make sense, but hear me out.” He waited for both the Alpha and beta to nod in agreement before he continued. “What if we were looking at it wrong? We’ve been seeing Knox as the killer, and we have every right to. The fibers found on the bodies, the blood on his clothes, it all indicates to him being involved. Now we have information that may contradict all of that. What if he’s trying to bring attention to these killings as a way to stop all of this?”

Both Gibbs and Ducky remained silent, pondering what Tony disclosed. “But where does he come from?” Ducky posed the question.

“I don’t have the answer to that question, but I am starting to feel that we need to find him; either as the killer or than as some sort of whistleblower who needs to be protected.” Tony turned sharply. “Could he be an omega, Ducky?”

“I have no idea, Anthony. We do not have any of his DNA on file, and as you are well aware, his fingerprints came up empty.”

“It may sound silly, but that’s what got me thinking he might be omega.” Tony saw the confusion on the others faces. “Omegas have a separate register, and none of our fingerprints are kept in the same database with the rest of the population. The only reason my fingerprints and that of our dead Petty Officer’s are in AFIS is because I’m in law enforcement and he was in the Navy. Most omegas are not even fingerprinted. We only need to be registered. The rest of the information is about our First Alpha, or then later updated with further Alphas or bonded mates. That would then also explain why the omegas came back as being unknown. No one printed them and checked against the omega database. Why would they? It was just another omega.” Tony sounded bitter.

Gibbs could’ve kicked himself when Tony mentioned the fingerprints. He knew that the omegas’ prints were kept separately, and even if it wasn’t like Tony said - the victims just being omegas, it still hit him hard that he did not think about it - that no one else thought about it. What hit him even harder was the bitterness Tony felt as it slammed into their shared bond. It was mixed with so many other emotions that he knew Tony has reached the end of his rope for the night. He could feel how totally exhausted the young male was and he wanted to headslap himself for not thinking about it earlier. Tony was still healing and dealing with this case added extra stress to an already taxed body. He also knew that should he try to send this mate to bed, it would not go down well. He had to choose his words with care. “We all had enough for tonight. Duck, you’re more than welcome to take the guest bedroom if you don’t want to drive back home, but we are not discussing this anymore. I’m dead on my feet and I can feel Tony is dead on his feet as well. Let’s get a few hours of sleep. The team gets together at 0800 and we can get them on board with what we've hashed out here.” He made sure to let Tony feel his tiredness hoping the omega would not fight him on this.

Ducky looked at his watch. “Yes, yes, I can see why you want to call it a night, Jethro. It is almost one in the morning. If you do not mind, I do think I will take you up on your offer of the guest bedroom. I will just go and fetch my bag from the car.”

“I don’t mind bringing it in for you, Ducky.” Tony spoke up as he started towards the door. He needed a few moments to himself and retrieving the ME’s bag from the car would give that respite.

“Thank you, Anthony. It would be much appreciated.” Ducky waited until Tony exited the house before he spoke up again. “Will you ever be able to forgive me for being a fool and keeping this from you, Jethro?”

Gibbs sighed deeply. “You’re one of my oldest friends, Duck. I would be lying to myself if I said that this did not hurt, but you did come clean and I think that matters more. So, it's all forgiven, Ducky.”

“Thank you, Alpha.” Ducky bared his neck as an indication of his submission. “Will your mate be all right?”

“He’s spread thin, Ducky. Everything that happened and, now this, it has hit him hard. He’s reeling, but not willing to show it and definitely not willing to share it. He’s so used to being on his own that I don’t think he’s doing it intentionally, but he’s blocking most of his feelings from the bond. The only reason why I know that he’s at the end of his rope is because he’s so tired. He can’t keep the walls up that he has built around him. I am worried, Ducky.”

“These past weeks has shown me just how little I know about omegas, Jethro. One thing that was said through all of the ages is that for an omega to be truly happy, he had to submit fully to his bonded Alpha. Would I be correct, if I say this has not yet happened in any way or form?”

“You're right, Duck it has not happened yet, but I am planning on rectifying that tonight. I won’t be taking him down completely, but he needs to start to realize that he belongs to me, that when I say he had enough, he indeed had enough.” Gibbs made a mental note to get a few things from the cabinet in the basement when Tony was taking a shower.

“Then I do think it would be better for me to take my leave, Jethro.” Ducky started to move towards the door.

“No need, Duck. I’m not going to do a scene with him or anything like that. I’m just going to get him to let go a bit. If all goes to plan, he will have a good night’s rest and feel a bit more in control of himself tomorrow.”

Ducky nodded his head. “Very well, Jethro. I’ll be heading to my room then. Would you please ask young Anthony to bring my bag up?”

“I’ll do so, Ducky.” Gibbs looked on as the beta left the room and slowly made the trek up the stairs to the second story. He was about to go and look for his mate when Tony walked back into the house with Ducky’s bag swung over his shoulder.

“Did you and Ducky managed to chat and clear the air?” Tony asked as he placed the bag next to his feet.

Gibbs smiled. He should’ve known that Tony would clear out to give them a chance to talk. “We did indeed, thank you.” He closed the distance between them and placed his hands around Tony’s face, lifting his head to look the omega in the eye. “I know that I’m most likely to start a war with you, but I need you to hear me out.” Gibbs waited for Tony to acknowledge his request before he continued. “You are dead on your feet and I have a feeling that even if you go and lie down you would not get any rest. I’m willing to help you, if you’re willing to take the risk and trust me.”

Tony wanted to deny the fact that he was tired, but that meant lying to himself and he couldn't do that. He still was a bit skeptic about the idea of trusting the Alpha, but he knew he had to start some time. Gibbs had been with him through some very hairy stuff, and his instincts yelled at him that he could trust the Alpha, so just maybe he should listen to it and give in. “What do you have in mind?”

Gibbs placed a soft kiss on Tony’s forehead, his wolf happy to note that Tony relaxed at the gesture. “I want to start working on our dynamics as a mated pair.” Gibbs decided to play it straight. “Are you willing to give it a try?”

“You want to have sex?” Tony shook his head. “And there I thought you were different.” He started to pull away.

Gibbs brought his hands down to cover Tony’s wrists and held tight. Even as Tony struggled, he could feel it was only for show. He knew that if the omega really wanted to break free he would've done so very easily. “I never said anything about sex, did I? I know you think that the only thing Alphas want from you is sex, but I think I’ve proven to you that that’s not me. Yes, sex plays an important part in a bonded relationship like ours, but I would never force you to have intercourse with me if you don’t want to, Tony.”

“Then what do you want?” Tony had stopped struggling and lowered his head to rest it on top of Gibbs’ shoulder.

“I want to take you down. I want to give you a chance to just forget about everything around you and just be. Do you think you can do that?” Gibbs spoke softly.

Tony shook his head. “I don’t know how.”

“That’s why I’m here. Let me show you. Trust me with this.” He held his breath then sighed in relief as Tony nodded against his shoulder. “Good boy. I want you to take Ducky’s bag to his room and then I want you to go and take a shower. It will help you relax. I’ll meet you in the bedroom in a few minutes. Think you can do that?”

Tony stayed leaned against the Alpha male as he nodded his head again. It sounded easy enough - he could do that.

“Okay, then go on up. I’m just going to lock up here, get a few things we’re going to need and I’ll meet you shortly.” Gibbs kissed his mate again and looked on as the tired omega managed to climb the stairs. He waited until Tony disappeared from his sight before he quickly locked the house and descended the stairs to the basement. He opened the cabinet and stared at the contents for a good minute or two before grabbing what he needed and headed up the stairs again. Gibbs was happy to note that Ducky had shut his door properly and even though he didn’t plan anything of a sexual nature, it would give Tony a sense of a bit more privacy. He placed the items he brought on the dresser and turned down the bed in one easy movement. Gibbs was happy that since the moment he brought Tony home, the omega had no problem in sharing his bed, even if they only slept in it and did nothing else. The first part of getting Tony in bed would not be a problem. It was the second part he was more worried about. He could only hope it would work out.

**\-- MINE --**

Tony let the hot water rain down on him as he stood with his hands spread out against the tiles. He could feel the tension leaving his body as the water ran rivets down his neck, back and legs. He only started to wash himself when the water started to cool and when he finally emerged from the bathroom, he felt more relaxed than he had in a long time. He stopped as he neared the bed and saw what Gibbs had placed on the dresser. “I thought this wasn’t about sex.”

“It’s not, Tony.” Gibbs spoke up as he stepped into Tony’s personal space and pulled him into his embrace. “I would lie to you if I told you that I won’t use them in a scene, but that’s not what this is about tonight. Tonight, I want you to feel safe, to realize that while you’re here, with me, you can let go. That it’s okay to let go.” He circled Tony’s wrists with his hands and felt the tremble that passed through the young omega’s body. “I know you can feel this, I know you want me to take you down but you’re so unsure how to ask for it that it’s easier for you just to carry on the way you’ve been doing all your life. Give yourself to me, Tony. Let me help you, let me show you that one place where you can float, where nothing can harm you.” As he spoke the words, he gently increased the pressure around the omega’s wrists, making sure Tony knew he would take care of his needs.

Tony shook his head. “I don't know.” He sighed and nearly whimpered as he felt the warmness of the Alpha’s hands circling his wrists, making him feel safe. He flexed his wrists and relaxed even more when Gibbs hands never wavered around his wrists, their hold on him strong yet not crushing.

“But I do, let go, Tony. Let me help you.” Gibbs whispered the words as he gently moved Tony to the bed and made the omega sit down. “You need this and I can give it to you.” He let go of Tony’s wrists and cupped the face that looked up at him in confusion.

Tony shook his head. He wanted this, but he’d never given up control to anyone - not voluntary in any case. “I don’t know how.” The words spilled softly.

Gibbs wanted to curse and smash things to small little pieces at the admission that left Tony’s lips. It was considered the greatest gift of all if an omega submitted to you completely. It was one of the forgotten aspects that made the bond between an Alpha and omega so special and Tony had no idea how special it was. Gibbs knew he would have to take it slow. “Let me help you”, he offered again and wanted to punch the air in triumph when Tony nodded his head in agreement. “We’re going to take this slow. In the end, there’s only one outcome we’re looking for here and that is for you to let go for just a while and relax. Give yourself to me.” He made Tony lie on the bed and removed the towel that hung around Tony’s hips before placing it over the omega’s lower body just to give Tony that little piece of surety that he needed. He was happy that Tony didn’t object to being naked. As wolves, they normally didn’t have any problems in shifting and that meant they ended up naked fairly regularly. He also had a feeling that Tony spent more time naked when he was younger than he spent time wearing clothes. “What’s your safe word?” He knew Tony would not need it, not for this, but he still needed to know the word, especially if this became part of their permanent bond.

Tony shook his head. “I don’t have one.”

“Do you know the reason why you should have one?” Gibbs inquired as he gently grasped one of Tony’s wrists and slowly started massaging it with his own hand.

“No, not really. No Alpha has ever stopped when I asked, begged or told them to stop, so why would a word do just that?” The bitterness reappeared as well as the tension.

Gibbs was ready to climb the walls. But he knew now was not the time to lose his shit. “We’ll discuss this later, but for now I want you to know that the moment you say _stop_ , I will.” He wanted Tony to relax again and knew that discussing safe words and the like would not achieve the goal he had in mind.

“If you say so, Gibbs.” Tony replied offhandedly.

“I say so.” Gibbs pressed harder against the wrist he held in his hand and smiled as he felt Tony visibly relax. He reached for the extra wide, but buttery soft wrist cuffs and gently wrapped the first one around Tony’s wrist before reaching for the second arm and encircling the wrist with the other leather cuff.

“They're so soft.” Tony moved his wrists inside the cuffs, but made no attempt to remove them from his arms. “Where did you get them?”

A small smile appeared on Gibbs’ face. “Made them.” He loved working with his hands and although he preferred working with wood, leather held a special place in his heart as well.

“For real? They’re beautiful.” Tony’s fingers traced the integrate pattern that decorated the leather with soft touches.

“For real.” Gibbs smiled. He brought Tony’s wrists towards him and clipped them together. He noticed the moment Tony's breathing hitched. “I’ll stop when you say the word, remember that.” He was proud when Tony nodded his head and tried to relax. “You are doing good, Tony.” He moved down the bed and found the pressure points on Tony's ankles, giving them the same massage as he did with Tony’s wrists before encircling them with a pair of ankle cuffs. He went on to lock them together and then picked up the first piece of rope he brought with him. “You know why I’m doing this?”

“To keep me still.”

“Correct. You never just sleep, you always move. I’ve noticed it before. I hope that this will give your body and your mind just that bit of a break. You can relax and sleep, knowing I’ll be here.”

“Will you be here, Gibbs, really?”

“I will never leave you when you’re in bondage, Tony. This way you’ll be forced to lie still and just sleep.” Gibbs started tying the omega up using intricate knots, until he was sure Tony could not move. Even as he tied the knots, he made sure that Tony was not pinched; this wasn’t about playing, this was about giving a very tired wolf/man the opportunity to get real rest. Finally, he attached the last rope to the metal rings on the headboard and moved Tony to his side so that he could rest comfortably.

“Remember, you only have to say stop and I will untie you immediately.” He made sure Tony saw the pair of safety scissors he placed next to the bed within easy reach. He walked around the bed and took his place next to the omega. He could see that Tony was struggling to stay still, moving parts of his body as if he was testing the rope that bound him. Gibbs remained silent, waiting to see what Tony would do next. When Tony’s body jerked for the first time and a small sob escaped from the omega’s lips, Gibbs placed his hand on Tony’s head and stroked his hair, soothing him down. He kept on making soft, calming sounds as Tony jerked again. He knew what was happening and was surprised that it was happening so quickly. Tony was falling, but he was fighting it, jerking every time he felt himself go. “Let it go, Tony. You’re safe; nothing’s going to happen to you. Not on my watch.” Gibbs reached for the last item he brought. “Let’s give you some more peace.” He held out the blindfold and saw Tony’s eyes grow large. “Easy, it’s just to stop you from distracting yourself. It’s not restrictive in any way, just a light sleeping mask.” He dragged the soft material over Tony’s arm so that the young omega could feel the softness of the material against his skin. When Tony relaxed again, he placed the blindfold over Tony’s eyes and leaned back against the headboard. He made sure his hand stayed on Tony’s head, gently dragging his fingers through the soft strands of hair.

Tony jerked once more and then his body finally sagged and became completely relaxed. It was then that Gibbs relaxed for the first time himself. He quietly checked the bonds, making sure that the ropes were not shaving or pinching Tony anywhere before he turned on his side facing the young omega and just lay next to him. It was wonderful to see Tony finally relaxing, giving in to what his body so desperately needed. Gibbs would make sure that bondage became a permanent fixture in their relationship, even if it was just to get Tony to relax completely. He turned when he heard a noise from the bedroom door. He wasn’t surprise to find Ducky standing there. “He’s fine, Duck.” He whispered as Tony sighed and melted further into the mattress.

Ducky did not reply, just stared at the pair for a long time before nodding his head once and then moved away from the door. It seemed like Gibbs had things well under control and he had no need to worry any further. Their worries would be there to deal with in the morning, and there were only a few hours left before morning would be upon them again.


End file.
